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DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 















—»-v* (v .sr 

“I WISH I WERE WORTHY OF ALL THIS,” SHE SIGHED.— Page 120. 


















DIANA OF 
BRIARCLIFFE 


By 

FLORENCE SCOTT BERNARD 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

EDNA F. HART HUBON 



r 

BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 












Copyright, 1923, 

By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 

All Rights Reserved 

Diana of Briarcliffe 



Printed in U. S. A. 

*ttotwoo& lpteae 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 
Norwood, Mass. 





DORA M. SCOTT 

To you, Mother, in appreciation 
of your love and care 


CONTENTS 


I. 

Diana, the Orphan 

• 

• 

11 

II. 

A Fairy-Godmother Appears 

• 

24 

III. 

A Shopping Orgy 


• 

35 

IY. 

Briaroliffe . 


• 

45 

Y. 

The Pie Eaters Sorority 


• 

56 

YI. 

A Little Black Book . 


• 

77 

YII. 

A Warning . 


• 

90 

YIII. • 

Deceit—Cheat—Deceit ! 


• 

103 

IX. 

A Bonfire 


• 

117 

X. 

A Note .... 


• 

128 

XI. 

Twelve O’clock for Cinderella 

141 

XII. 

The Truth About a Theme 

• 

154 

XIII. 

Back to Pots and Pans 

• 

• 

165 

XIY. 

Diana Gives a Party . 

• 

• 

177 

XY. 

An Old Love-Letter . 

• 

• 

190 

XYI. 

All About the Love-Letter 

• 

204 

XVII. 

The Secret of the Black Book 

218 

XYIII. 

The Lost Painting 

• 

• 

231 

XIX. 

About Jonathan Wood 

• 

• 

246 

XX. 

Last Days 

• 

• 

259 


7 








/ 











ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ I wish I were worthy of all this,” 

she sighed (Page 120) . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Diana felt like a queen in the showrooms 

of the fashionable shops ... 40 

“ What have you been up to now ? ” . 76 

* 

As the light surged into the room, it dis¬ 
closed the small figure of Madam 
Horton.152 

Diana lowered the candle into the un¬ 
known abyss.242 

“ I am going to deed that strip of land to 

the college ”.256 


9 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


CHAPTER I 

DIANA, THE ORPHAN 

“Diana! ‘Oh, Diana!” The voice 
sounded shrill and loud through the corridor, 
as it reached the east gable-room where 
Diana Lynn sat before a. tiny cracked mir¬ 
ror, ruefully contemplating ten unmistakable 
freckles on her tilted nose. Diana had 
counted them over and over—there were six 
on one side and four on the other. 

“ Amy Clay says lemon-juice will remove 
them. I wonder if it will? But, O dear—I 
haven’t any lemon-juice! I might just as 
well wish for a set of hen’s teeth.” 

She rubbed the offending specks gingerly, 
then hurried into the hall as the cries of 

“ Diana! Oh, Diana! ” were sounded again. 

11 


12 


DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


“Yes, Mrs. Murphy. What is it?” 
Diana answered sweetly. 

She wondered what had happened, for on 
the first Tuesday of every month all the chil¬ 
dren in the Anthony Flower Home for 
Orphans were allowed a half-holiday. Every 
boy and girl was free from studies and duties 
until the supper-hour, when the older girls 
were expected to set the tables. 

This was the first Tuesday, and Diana had 
just settled herself for a long, luxurious 
afternoon of reading. Some one had given a 
library to the Home, and Diana used it 
freely. She was very fond of books, and it 
was great fun to imagine herself as one of the 
heroines. Sometimes she thought this queer, 
imaginative play nearly made up for the 
loneliness and lovelessness of her life. 

The first Tuesday of every month was set 
aside as a holiday, because it was Trustee 
Day. At this time officers and teachers at 
the Home were kept busy reading the re¬ 
ports and discussing the problems and affairs 
of the institution with the visitors. 


13 


DIANA, THE ORPHAN 

“ Come down, will you, Diana? ” The 
matron’s face was creased with lines of 
worry, and her voice sounded shaky and 
nervous. 

Diana smiled obligingly, and ran down 
the steps two at a time. 

“ Oh, you mustn’t do that! ” Mrs. Murphy 
cautioned, as she cast furtive glances at the 
doorway. “ The trustees might see you, and 
they might think I wasn’t bringin’ you up 
with proper manners. I know, Diana—you 
are so full of life and spirits. I don’t want 
to scold too much.” 

What Diana wanted to say was, “ I know 
you don’t. You’re a duck, and I want to 
love you.” 

But she didn’t say it, for Mrs. Murphy’s 
every-day, matron-like look returned, and 
her mouth set in hard, determined lines. 

Diana merely replied, “ Yes, ’m. I’ll re¬ 
member next time. You wanted me? ” 

“ Yes. I am almost wild with so much on 
my mind. The trustees are waiting in the 
office, and I’ve got to be at the meeting. 


14 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Then I’ve got to show ’em the new laundry 
and explain its good and bad points, and I’ve 
got to report about the sewing-girl giving 
notice, and about the place that has been 
offered Sadie Lee. O dear, O dear! And 
to top it off, along comes two poor little 
orphan tikes from land knows where, who 
are crying and kicking like fury. I sent 
Hannah to take care of them, but Hannah’s 
face only scares them worse than ever. I 
can’t take the time now to quiet them. You 
have always been so handy and understand¬ 
ing with the new ones. Diana—could 
you-? ” 

“ Yes, I could—I mean I’ll try,” Diana 
answered quietly. 

“ That’s kind of you. It’s a shame to rob 
you of your half-holiday, too. But what’s to 
be done? ” Mrs. Murphy sighed and walked 
toward the door. 

“ Don’t worry, Mrs. Murphy. I’ll do my 
best,” Diana assured her kindly. “ Where 
are the poor things? ” 

“ I put them in the dormitory,” the matron 



15 


DIANA, THE ORPHAN 

hastened to explain. “ They were in the 
library, but I was afraid their noise would 
disturb the trustee-meeting. Well, I’ll go 
now. The meeting was called at two o’clock, 
sharp.” 

Diana found the “ new ones ” huddled in 
a miserable heap on the floor in the dormi¬ 
tory. The door was shut, and Jamie had 
nearly worn out his poor little strength ham¬ 
mering it forcefully and crying bitterly that 
he wanted to go home. 

As Diana entered, the boy gave a shrill 
scream, and the girl broke into fresh sobs. 
It was pitiful, and Diana’s heart went out to 
them. She remembered her own arrival at 
the Home—her revolt, unrestrained grief, 
loneliness, and despair, dealt with according 
to unsympathetic, business-like methods and 
rigid rules. She recalled how hard it had 
been to conform to the regulations of the 
Home. First, her trunkful of pretty little 
dresses was divided as “ Sunday bests ” 
among the other girls of her size, Diana be¬ 
ing allowed to keep only two for herself. 



16 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

Even as a child she adored dainty things, and 
it nearly broke her heart when she was put 
into the uniform, consisting of a blue-checked 
apron, black stockings, heavy shoes, and a 
sunbonnet. Diana hated that sunbonnet, 
hence the freckles so sorely lamented. 

It was hard for Diana to see her dresses 
on the other orphans, but the matron had 
decided that as these bright-colored frocks 
were for Sundays only, Diana would out¬ 
grow the garments before they were worn 
out, so the less fortunate girls might as well 
get some good out of them. In her reason¬ 
able moments Diana admitted that Mrs. 
Murphy was right, yet it was an irritation 
not to have all her own clothes, and it greatly 
tried her temper. However, she was used to 
the uniform by this time, but she would al¬ 
ways feel sorry for every newcomer who had 
to wear one. 

“Oh, here you are!” Diana said cheer¬ 
fully. The children looked up wonderingly. 
The voice sounded nice. 

“ We want to go away,” Marjie whim- 


17 


DIANA, THE ORPHAN 

pered, as Diana knelt and kissed the dimple 
in the child’s quivering chin. 

“ Let me out. I’m going home! ” Jamie 
screamed. 

Diana, who knew how to handle small 
folk, soon had the youngsters under control 
and was telling them stories and receiving 
their confidences. 

Leading them down between the rows of 
little white iron beds, she showed them the 
view of the playground from the large dor¬ 
mer-windows. She told them all about 
Annie Frazer and Tillie Freeman and 
Tommie Heller and Bobbie Swing; and 
then, when interest waned, she explained 
that a new mother would come to the Home 
and take them away for her own. 

“ I’d like my own mother best,” Marjie 
said with her bright eyes looking intently 
into Diana’s, “ though maybe a second-hand 
mother would be better than none at all. 
The big lady who locked us in here—is she 
the mother? Must we call her Mother? ” 

“ O dear, no! ” Diana laughed her care- 



18 


DIANA OF BBIARCLIFFE 


free, happy laugh. A laugh seemed to be 
always near Diana’s lips, ready to burst 
forth at the slightest provocation. No 
amount of rules could stifle that. “The lady 
was Mrs. Murphy. She is called the matron. 
She didn’t mean to be cruel when she put 
you in here. This is Trustee Day, and she 
was flustered and worried.” 

“Can we have any fun here?” Jamie 
asked abruptly. 

“ Oh, heaps! ” Diana assured him. “ Of 
course, a Home isn’t as nice as mothers and 
fathers, but it’s next best. It wouldn’t be 
pleasant to have to go begging in the streets. 
Lots happens here that one doesn’t like, but 
you will be happier if you just make up your 
mind to take everything as it comes. When 
things go wrong, I just try to imagine the 
way I want them to be and pretend they are 
like that. Presently I am just as happy as 
though they were really so. That’s a good 
game, and I’ll teach you how to play it. 
When one stops to think, we have a great 
deal to be thankful for here at the Home. 


19 


DIANA, THE ORPHAN 

Although there aren’t mothers, there is a 
roof over our heads, comfortable beds to 
sleep in, gingham aprons, plenty to eat, and 
pink ice-cream on Sundays. Also so many 
boys and girls are here that it’s real sport to 
play tag and hide-and-seek with them. We 
have a library, too. A kind man gave it to 
us two years ago, and if you are lonely you 
may always find people to love in a book. 
Can you read? ” 

“ I can read some,” responded Marjie. 
“ I like books if the words aren’t too hard.” 

“ Well, now we’ll go into the yard, and 
you can get acquainted with the other chil¬ 
dren. You are not going to cry any more. 
You will be brave young soldiers, eh? Diana 
will come and tuck you in to-night, and you 
will sleep in one of these cunning beds. 
Jamie will sleep in the boys’ dormitory, and 
in the morning old Mr. Sun will peep in at 
the window and say, ‘Wake up, Jamie. 
Come into the fields and romp with me!”’ 

“ Sun can’t talk,” the boy declared sul¬ 
lenly. 


20 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Diana laughed, “ But you must make 
believe he can. You can get so much more 
fun out of life by imagining the things 
you would like to hear or see.” 

“ Then why don’t you imagine away that 
old blue-checked apron,” Jamie scoffed. 
“ It don’t look nice on you.” 

Diana grinned at his frankness. She was 
amused. “ Oh, I have imagined it away 
hundreds—yes, thousands—of times. I have 
worn the most gorgeous things—pink chif¬ 
fon, rainbow crepe-meteor, diamonds, pearls 
—oh, there is no limit when a person begins 
to make believe.” 

“ H’m,” Jamie grunted wisely. “ But you 
have to come back to the real thing in the 
end. I don’t see any fun in that.” 

Thinking the discussion was running into 
deep water, Diana led the way down-stairs 
and out into the yard. The children were 
introduced to Marjie and Jamie, and their 
misfortunes were soon forgotten under the 
influence of youthful glee. 

As Diana sat under a tree watching the 



DIANA, THE ORPHAN 21 

frolic, she absently noted the departure of 
the trustees in their automobiles and car¬ 
riages. 

An orphan broke in upon her reverie with 
the announcement, “ Diana Lynn, you are 
wanted in the office.” 

Diana scrambled to her feet. She began 
to shake with nervous emotion. When she 
was younger, she had always received these 
summons with a wild gush of delight, for 
mothers sometimes came to the Home in 
search of children, and Diana had always 
hoped to be adopted, but never was. 

She had not been an attractive child, but 
she had improved in appearance as she grew 
older. However, her services in taking care 
of the little ones were so valuable to the over¬ 
worked matron that Diana was rarely sent 
in when a mother came to select a child. 

It was with mingled fear, wonder, and 
surprise that she pushed open the office-door. 
Mrs. Murphy, who was standing alone by a 
window in a seemingly thoughtful attitude, 
turned as the girl entered. 


22 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“Diana,” she began, “you are sixteen 
years old, aren’t you? ” 

“ Nearly seventeen, Mrs. Murphy,” she 
answered. “ I’ll be seventeen next Octo¬ 
ber.” 

“Well,” the woman sighed regretfully; 
“ the Board has decided that you have been 
here long enough, and it is time for you to 
go out into the world. The Home seldom 
keeps orphans after they are sixteen. A 
place will be found for you—for you are a 
good worker.” 

Diana turned pale, and a look of misery 
came into her eyes. Somehow she had never 
thought of this inevitable thing as really hap¬ 
pening. She knew nothing of the world. 
She would be like a little soft kitten lost in 
a great maelstrom. Yet she had often 
longed to be in a place where she could be an 
individual and not a necessary piece of 
machinery. 

“Where am I to go?” she asked help¬ 
lessly. 

“ That has not been decided,” Mrs. Mur- 



DIANA, THE ORPHAN 23 

phy replied gently. “ There are lots of posi¬ 
tions open for housework.” 

Diana bit her lip. How she hated to go 
out as a servant, although she knew that this 
was the only kind of work for which she was 
fitted! 

“ What would you like to do? ” Mrs. Mur¬ 
phy asked kindly, moved by Diana’s expres¬ 
sion of combined horror and eagerness. 

The girl’s face brightened, as though a 
ray of sunshine had suddenly caressed it. 

“ Oh! ” she breathed rapturously, “ I—I 
would like to go to college. I have 
dreamed-” 

She stopped suddenly. She knew it was 
ridiculously impossible. 



CHAPTER II 


A FAIRY-GODMOTHER APPEARS 

Diana was by nature a sunny soul, but 
she pondered and worried over Mrs. Mur¬ 
phy’s abrupt disclosure. Where could she 
go? What kind of family would she be 
taken into? Would she be obliged to scrub 
and dust, wait upon the table, or act as 
nurse-maid to unmanageable children? Her 
future life was so uncertain that the suspense 
was nerve-racking. 

Diana was loving, emotional, and high- 
strung. She imagined and planned in wild 
flights, but, as Jamie had suggested, she al¬ 
ways came to the end of things where reality 
had to be faced. If a girl with Diana’s 
ambition and talent were properly educated, 
she might aim for something higher than 
housework, but the training and advantages 

of the orphanage were painfully meager. 

24 


A FAIRY-GODMOTHER 25 

Diana did aspire, but her aspiration floated 
to the clouds, melting into nothingness. 

“ Oh, well,” she decided at last, “ I’ll do 
any kind of work, and try to be happy—or 
at least contented until something better 
turns up. There is no use making myself 
miserable over things that can’t be helped. 
I think I am in the wrong place. I should 
have been born in luxury, and kept there. 
I know what I’ll do. I’ll be a nice little 
servant-girl, and on my afternoons and even¬ 
ings off I’ll scamper to my attic-room and 
write a book. I have always wanted to 
write a book. See, there is a good in every¬ 
thing, if one only looks hard enough. Dear 
me, I believe I am happy after all! Clouds 
don’t seem to hang over me very long; some¬ 
thing always drives them away.” 

So Diana became reconciled to her fate, 
and was her own cheerful self again, singing 
and laughing as usual while performing her 
tasks. 

Two weeks later Diana was called to the 
office again. She went gladly, for she had 



26 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 

decided that she would much rather know 
her destiny than be kept in suspense. 

She smiled as she entered, and when Diana 
smiled, she was almost beautiful. Her eyes 
became doe-like and limpid, and her mouth 
grew fascinating as it revealed her white even 
teeth. Her hair was brown, and, although 
it was not curly, it fluffed prettily about her 
ears. Mrs. Murphy always insisted that she 
draw it back tightly, but to-day it had be¬ 
come loosened after a romp with Jamie and 
Marjie, and Diana had hastily thrust a hair¬ 
pin through her unruly locks on her way to 
the office. 

“ Dear me,” Mrs. Murphy said to her¬ 
self, “ I never noticed that Diana was so 
pretty before.” 

Diana saw in the room a tiny old lady 
sitting in a deep hollow-chair by the window. 
The old lady nodded pleasantly. 

“ Diana, this is Madam Horton. She 
wants a girl, and the Board recommended 
you.” 

It had come at last. The little woman did 


A FAIRY-GODMOTHER 


27 


not look hard to please, and Diana thrilled 
with a little shiver of delight as she looked 
into Madam’s keen twinkling eyes. 

She had an impulsive desire to rush up to 
the little old lady, kiss her hand, and express 
the wish that they might be happy together, 
but she remembered just in time such famili¬ 
arity would be unbecoming in a servant-girl. 

“ It will be awfully hard for me to remem¬ 
ber to keep my place,” she thought to her¬ 
self, “for somehow I just seem to be on a 
level with every one. But I am only a help¬ 
less dependent orphan—I mustn’t forget 
that.” 

“ Come here,” Madam commanded softly, 
and, as in a dream, Diana obeyed. 

The old lady rose from her chair, and drew 
Diana close to her, holding her stiffly by the 
shoulders and gazing searchingly into her 
frank brown eyes. She looked intently for 
quite two minutes, then drew a sigh of satis¬ 
faction and sat down. 

“ I think she’ll do,” she remarked dryly to 
the matron. “ I will try her.” She turned 


28 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

to Diana with a sweet smile. “ Run along, 
dear, and pack up your things.” 

“ I—I’d like to say something,” Diana 
stammered, feeling a curious little tug at her 
heart-strings, “ but I can’t. I seem to be all 
choked up.” 

“ Never mind, you will probably say 
enough later,” answered Madam, laughing 
good-naturedly. 

“ I will be back in fifteen minutes,” 
Diana promised. “ Mrs. Murphy, may I 
say good-bye to the children? ” 

The matron consented, her eyes softening 
with a suspicious mist. 

“ Diana has always been a good girl,” she 
said, after the door had closed. “ I shall 
miss her. She is a little high-strung and 
imaginative, but when she reaches hard, solid 
facts, Diana can always be depended upon.” 

Soon Diana returned, carrying a ragged 
little satchel and wearing her “ Sunclay- 
best.” The latter was dotted muslin, and, 
in spite of its worn condition, Diana looked 
very sweet and girlish. 



A FAIRY-GODMOTHER 


29 


“The children-” she explained bro¬ 

kenly. “ It was hard to leave them. I left 
my string of beads in my room, Mrs. 
Murphy. They are hanging on the nail 
behind the closet-door. If Marjie cries, give 
them to her. They will help console her. 
Good-bye, Mrs. Murphy, I’ll never forget 
you and the Anthony Flower Home for 
Orphans. Good-bye.” 

“ Good-bye, dear,” the matron’s voice 
trembled, and she quickly brushed a tear 
from her cheek. “ Write and let me know 
how you are.” 

Diana was whisked away in a luxurious 
limousine. She hardly dared to draw a long 
breath for fear the spell would be broken, 
and she would find herself back in the Home 
with nothing in the world to look forward to. 

She had never ridden in an automobile be¬ 
fore, and the sensation was extremely grati¬ 
fying to her pleasure-loving nature. Not 
every common servant-girl could ride in an 
automobile with her employer, she thought 
with a happy thrill. 



30 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


O dear, if she could just ride on forever! 
Her imagination expanded in this dramatic 
setting. In fancy she was a daughter of the 
idle rich, spinning gayly along in her motor. 
Her dear, darling mother was sitting beside 
her, and they were going home—home with¬ 
out the capital letter. Oh, how happy she 
was! She rubbed her hand lightly over the 
soft pink of her make-believe gown, and 
adjusted her imaginary chiffon hat trimmed 
with pink rosebuds and satin ribbon. 

“ Diana,” Diana started as Madam’s voice 
brought her to earth with a bump against 
the rugged rock of reality. 

“ Yes,” she murmured. 

“ Here we are at last,” Madam beamed, 
as the car stopped and she stepped daintily 
from the tonneau. Diana followed, admir¬ 
ing the splendor of her new surroundings. 

A row of elms bordered the drive that led 
to a lovely colonial house. The quaint little 
windows were tucked in at unexpected 
places, and were half-hidden in tangles of 
ivy vines and clematis. The great white 



A FAIRY-GODMOTHER 


31 


porch was a bower of comfort and beauty 
with its cretonne-covered chairs and ham¬ 
mocks and brass jardinieres of graceful, 
drooping ferns. 

Diana had often imagined the interior of 
lovely houses, but she had never dreamed of 
anything like this. She just wanted to sigh 
blissfully, sink into a great fur rug, and lie 
there basking in the loveliness around her. 

“You may remove your hat, and lay it in 
the hall with your satchel,” Madam sug¬ 
gested, pulling off her long gloves. She 
dropped into a big chair as though fatigued, 
while the flower-scented air blowing through 
the open window caressed her snowy curls. 
Diana took off her hat, and came back into 
the room. Madam was treating her very 
oddly, she thought. That is, it was an odd 
way for a mistress to treat her maid. 

“ Now draw up a chair and sit before me,” 
the little lady demanded gently. “ I want 
to talk to you.” 

As Diana obeyed in meek wonder, a late 
sunbeam flickered across her face filling her 


32 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


brown eyes with tints of gold. She silently 
waited for Madam to begin, supposing that 
she was going to read off a list of duties for 
her new servant to perform. 

“ Now, my dear girl, I wish to tell you a 
few facts. I am a queer old woman, but I 
have my good points.” The little lady 
paused to chuckle in amusement. “ It has 
long been my custom to send deserving 
orphan girls to college. I have sent four. 
You see, it gives them a foundation of solid 
rock on which to build their lives. A poor 
girl without advantages or training is like 
a bird with two wings broken. Three of the 
girls I have educated have repaid me by 
turning out to be good, successful women, 
but one of the girls frittered away her oppor¬ 
tunities with frivolous nonsense. She was 
absolutely worthless; so I withdrew my sup¬ 
port. What was the use of keeping on pay¬ 
ing when a deserving girl might be enjoying 
and appreciating her advantages? Diana, 
how would you like to go to college? ” 

“ Oh, oh, I can’t believe it! Is it really 


A FAIRY-GODMOTHER 


33 


true? Then you did not bring me here to 
be your housemaid? Oh, I never guessed! ” 
Diana flung herself at the woman’s feet, and 
sobbed out her wonderful joy with her head 
in Madam’s lap. She looked up with pitiful 
pleading. “ Say it again! Oh, do say it 
again! I am so afraid it isn’t true, and this 
is only a freak of my wild imagination. I 
have always wanted to go to college, for then 
I could fit myself for the work I would really 
love to do. I want to write. It is a solemn 
secret, and I haven’t dared to breathe it to a 
soul, but I know that you will sympathize 
and understand. Oh, lady dear, please say 
those words again! You wouldn’t tease me, 
would you? ” 

“ Diana, I am going to send you to col¬ 
lege.” Madam apparently took pleasure in 
seeing the girl’s eyes glow and sparkle with 
happiness. 

“ Oh, how I love you for that! It is won¬ 
derful, wonderful! ” Diana seized one of the 
wrinkled hands, and kissed it rapturously. 
“ I had the most terrible time trying to act 



34 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


like a servant and an orphan, but now—now 
I can be just Diana, can’t I? ” 

Madam smiled contentedly, as she stroked 
Diana’s smooth cheek with her hands. Diana 
gripped the thin fingers and, pressing them 
against her face, eagerly begged, “ Caress me 
like that, it makes me so happy! I have 
never been petted in all my life, and, oh, how 
I have longed for a little motherly love! ” 
“You poor starved thing!” Madam im¬ 
pulsively bent and kissed the lonely orphan. 

That night Diana slept in a room, all pink 
and white and gold. It was as if she had 
been suddenly transported into fairyland. 
She stood at the window in a silvery path¬ 
way of moonlight. 

“ I am the happiest girl in the world,” she 
cried, “ and I don’t need to pretend it, either. 
Now I can be myself and follow my own 
ideas and inclinations. I am not a mere 
speck in a big institution, but I am a girl. 
At last, I am free to be just Diana Lynn! ” 


CHAPTER III 


A SHOPPING ORGY 

“ Is it really I? ” Diana murmured, when 
she awakened shortly after dawn. It seemed 
very strange that Diana Lynn should have 
slept in a shiny brass bed with a silk coverlet 
over her. She stretched her arms luxuriously 
over her head, and then let her hands rest in 
the puffy softness of the downy comforter. 

Diana soon arose, and ran to the window, 
where she inhaled deep breaths of the early 
morning air. She dressed hurriedly, but 
discovered upon reaching the lower floor that 
no one else was up. She opened the long 
French windows, and went out on the porch. 
There Madam found her idly dreaming three 
hours later. 

Diana’s first thought was to offer to help 

with the preparation of breakfast, but she 

instantly realized that would not be proper, 

35 


36 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


considering the position she now enjoyed. 
How suddenly her world had changed! 
Presently a neat little maid announced that 
the meal was served, and Diana followed her 
benefactress to the perfectly appointed table 
in the sunny breakfast-room. 

Madam noted that it was not difficult for 
Diana to adjust herself to her new life, and 
it pleased her, for somehow she seemed to 
have a deeper interest in Diana than she had 
in any of the others. There was something 
fascinating and engaging about this forlorn 
little orphan. She was made for love and 
life, and thus far she had been sadly cheated. 

After breakfast they sat down on the front 
veranda, and Diana could hardly believe that 
there were no dishes to wash, no beds to 
make, no children to wash and dress, and no 
patches to sew on small trousers. 

“ I do not think I mentioned the name of 
the college that I am going to send you to,” 
Madam began. “ It is Briarcliffe, my own 
Alma Mater, on the banks of the Hudson. 
The school is in a beautiful natural setting of 


A SHOPPING OKGY 37 

cliffs and forests. There are all kind of 
things for the normal healthy girl to enjoy—* 
long tramps, canoeing, tennis, basket-ball— 
sensible pleasures all. I want to warn you 
about friendships, for friends help to make 
or mar a life. Many girls have suffered from 
a companion’s folly. As I believe you are 
the kind that is easily led, take care not to 
follow in the wrong direction. I have 
learned that you are emotional, affectionate, 
confiding, fond of pleasures—and I hope 
fond of study, for, although I do not insist 
upon an exceptionally high record, I de¬ 
mand, at least, respectable grades. If you 
cannot reach the common standard of effi¬ 
ciency, you are not worth educating. There, 
I have given you quite a lecture. Have you 
absorbed it? ” 

“ Every word,” Diana assured her eagerly. 
“ I will try to live up to your expecta¬ 
tions.” 

“ Since you desire to be an author, I sug¬ 
gest that you devote a certain portion of your 
leisure to this chosen vocation. Who knows 



38 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


—you may be a genius! Begin with simple 
short stories and write, write, write, for it is 
only through persistence and constant prac¬ 
tice that one attains proficiency and perfec¬ 
tion. You are going to college to prepare 
for your life-work, so I hardly need to say 
that you must not waste your time. I do 
not want you to give up good solid pleasures, 
but you should be able to choose what is 
beneficial to you and what is not.” 

Diana listened intently. 

“ And now about your wardrobe,” Madam 
said suddenly. 

Diana looked down at her mended polka- 
dot dress, and with a shudder thought of 
those horrible blue-checked aprons in her 
battered little satchel. 

“ Don’t look so mournful, little girl,” the 
woman laughed. “ Did you think you 
would have to wear your old clothes? No, 
I mean to put you on a plane with the other 
girls. You are not to feel one bit of in¬ 
feriority. One who is trodden upon or 
cramped cannot give the best of himself; so 


A SHOPPING ORGY 


39 


you are to have all the advantages of the 
ordinary college girls. All that I ask is that 
you do not abuse your opportunities. Now, 
child, tell me all about yourself. What do 
you remember? ” 

Diana’s face clouded. “ My life in the 
Orphans’ Home you are familiar with. It 
is the life of thousands of orphans. The 
same routine over and over, bound down 
with a strict set of rules. I remember 
vaguely my own mother! She was very 
beautiful. We travelled a great deal. I do 
not recall that we ever had a real home. 
Father was some sort of public speaker. I 
remember that he spoke at street-corners, 
although I don’t know what his speeches 
were about. Mother was always sad. She 
cried often, and sometimes she sang—sweet, 
wild, haunting songs. Of course, I was very 
young, but those melodies come back to me. 
I believe my mother had an artist’s soul that 
was crying for freedom. I—I don’t believe 
that she ever found herself. Then came the 
awful calamity in which my parents were 


40 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


killed. We were travelling on a train, and 
it went over an embankment. I can just 
recall a muddle of crashes, screams, and 
groans. 

“We had no relatives. I was a homely, 
thin, angular, big-eyed child, with reddish- 
brown hair—and freckles. No one wanted 
me. There only remained the Poor Farm 
or the Anthony Flower Home. The au¬ 
thorities sent me to the Home. I am grate¬ 
ful for its shelter, but, oh, isn’t it a sad, 
hopeless childhood for a girl to look back 
upon!” 

Madam nodded, and she noticed that there 
were tears in Diana’s eyes. 

“I feel sorry for the other orphans,” Di¬ 
ana continued. “ If I ever get rich, I am 
going to build a real home for them. I’ll 
have it made with rooms instead of wards, 
and I’ll divide the children into families, with 
one of the older girls at the head of each. 
Every family shall have a tiny apartment, 
and live free from iron rules and monotonous 
routine.” Diana paused, entirely out of 




Diana felt like a queen in the showrooms of the 
fashionable shops.— Page 41. 













A SHOPPING ORGY 41 

breath, her eyes shining and her cheeks 
flushed. 

“ The idea isn’t half bad,” Madam smiled. 
“ But now for your own problems. We 
will go on a shopping tour this afternoon. 
I am sure you will enjoy seeing the pretty 
things in the stores.” 

“ I’ll love it! ” Diana cried. “ I know I’ll 
love it! ” 

Diana felt like a queen as Madam and she 
sat in gilt chairs in the showrooms of the 
fashionable shops, while a row of models ex¬ 
hibited exquisite gowns for their approval. 

First two trunks were purchased, great 
brass-bound things that Diana thought were 
good enough to sleep in. Madam had not 
at first intended to buy such an elaborate 
wardrobe, but Diana’s delight was so un¬ 
restrained that Madam herself felt young 
once more, and indulged her own fancies and 
desires as well as Diana’s. 

Madam read the list to Diana. There 
were six suits of underwear, one silk kimono, 
one crepe kimono, three pairs of long kid 


42 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


gloves, six pairs of black silk stockings, two 
pairs each of white, pink, and yellow silk 
stockings, three plain white linen dresses for 
school wear, three evening gowns, three 
afternoon dresses, two Sunday dresses, two 
middy-costumes, one tailored suit, one 
tramping-outfit, one evening wrap, one short 
coat, four hats, eight pairs of shoes, one chaf¬ 
ing-dish, one tennis-racquet, and other mis¬ 
cellaneous articles. 

Madam also took note of Diana’s sizes, for 
she would send her winter clothes later. 
When she had finished, Diana looked up in 
wonder. 

“ You are going to buy all those things for 
me? ” she asked meekly. 

“ Yes,” Madam chuckled. “ My dear, I, 
too, am having some fun out of it.” 

“ But you mustn’t,” Diana insisted. 
“ Really, I am not worth it.” 

Madam Horton’s only reply was to give 
the chauffeur the address of an exclusive 
shop. 

The evening gowns selected by Madam 


A SHOPPING ORGY 


43 


were of gorgeous colors, such as Diana had 
never possessed even in her most improbable 
dreams. One dress was pale yellow chiffon 
over peach-blossom silk, with trimmings of 
black velvet and old gold embroidery. An¬ 
other was cerise crepe de chine, with a shaded 
chiffon over-dress. This was ornamented 
with bands of silver beadwork. The other 
was for simple affairs, and was white chiffon 
with pink satin rosebuds outlining neck and 
sleeves. 

Diana was tired, but perfectly happy 
when they reached home. 

“ Do you know, I feel exactly as Cinder¬ 
ella must have felt when her fairy-god¬ 
mother appeared, and dressed her for the 
ball. Poor little me—only yesterday I was 
a miserable waif in a horrid blue-checked 
apron. Why, it is exactly like a fairy tale. 
You must have spent millions! ” 

“ Not exactly,” Madam replied, smiling. 

“ I am so glad to have clothes like other 
girls,” Diana said. “ But somehow, I feel as 
though you have been too lavish. I mean to 


44 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


pay you back some day, when I write a book 
and it turns out to be a best-seller. Oh, you 
dear, dear lady! I want to make you proud 
of me.” 

Madam kissed Diana’s cheek and asked, 
“ Now, my dear, is there anything else you 
would like to have? ” 

Diana considered a moment. She blushed 
and stammered. “ Yes, there is. I’d like a 
lemon to remove these horrid freckles.” 

Madam laughed softly. “ I understand. 
I had freckles once, and I hated them, too! ” 
“ There is one other thing I would like,” 
Diana added. “ I dislike to ask for it, you 
have been so good to me, but I do wish you 
would tuck me in just once. I have never 
been tucked in, and I have always wanted 
to be.” 


CHAPTER IV 


BRIARCLIFFE 

When Diana stepped off the train at the 
little college-town, she hardly knew which 
way to turn. Then, suddenly, a plain, com¬ 
petent-looking girl took her by the arm, and 
looked at her inquiringly. 

“You are Diana Lynn, are you not?” 
When Diana nodded helplessly, the girl said 
quickly, “ Wait here a second. I’ve two or 
three other freshmen to get, then we’ll go to 
your dormitory.” She consulted the note¬ 
book which hung from her waist on a string. 
“ You are to live in Mead Hall—room 40.” 

She was gone, and Diana stood quite still 
until she returned. Diana was used to see¬ 
ing a host of girls, but the crowds she re¬ 
membered were like a solid mass conglomer¬ 
ated into a whole, for every girl had on a 

blue-checked apron and a blue sunbonnet. 

45 



46 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


These girls who fluttered hither and thither 
about the tiny station, wore all kinds of 
bright colors. When Diana’s guardian came 
back, she held two girls by the arms, as 
though she feared they might make a break 
for liberty. 

“ Diana Lynn, meet Fay Sampson and 
Elsie Freeman. You are all freshmen in 
Mead. My name is Tessie Benner, and I’m 
a junior. Oh, don’t look so stiff and fright¬ 
ened, Elsie! I am not trying to kidnap you, 
really. It is the custom here for girls of the 
upper class to meet the new ones and sort of 
settle them. Come along.” 

They all laughed. Tessie had an abrupt 
and funny way, and Diana liked her. How¬ 
ever, Diana had resolved to love every girl 
she met; so she had a task before her. To a 
girl who had been denied friendships, this 
wide opening indeed seemed overwhelming. 

Tessie pointed out the various college 
buildings as they passed, stopping now and 
then to greet an old acquaintance. 

“To our left is the main college building. 


BRIARCLIFFE 


47 


That quaint little arched affair with the ivy 
vines is the chapel. The old brick is the 
gymnasium. It is much nicer inside. Briar- 
cliffe has a really up-to-date gym. Across 
the street you can see the Library and 
Science Hall. Farther down are the faculty 
houses and the dormitories—Mead, Hazlett, 
and Willard—named after the women who 
founded them. The grounds extend for 
several miles over those cliffs and through 
the woods to the left.” 

“ Does that building also belong to the 
college? ” Fay Sampson asked, as she 
,pointed to a huge brick structure, the gables 
of which could be seen through the tree-tops 
to the right. 

“ Mercy, no! ” Tessie declared. “ Old 
Mr. Jonathan Wood lives there, and I warn 
you here and now that you must never set 
foot on his grounds. He is very peculiar, 
and some say he is stingy and mean. Others 
claim that he is all shriveled up with his own 
shyness. I guess he has troubles of his own. 
The story is that he broods over a love affair 


48 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


of his youth, which was broken up by his own 
stubbornness. Anyway, he simply hates 
college girls, and you’d better stay on your 
own side of the fence if you don’t want the 
4 Goblins to get you.’ ” 

“ He sounds interesting,” Diana ventured 
shyly. 

“ H’m,” Tessie gave her a queer look. 
“ That depends upon what you call interest¬ 
ing. I hope you don’t contemplate making 
the old man’s acquaintance.” 

44 Oh, no! ” Diana laughed. 

44 They say he hates the college like fury 
because our land hits square up against his. 
Our dormitories are right next to his farm. 
He owns a lovely strip of land along the 
river that would make an ideal location for 
the new dormitory, and the college has been 
trying for ages to buy it of him. But, of 
course, he will not sell it—and there you are! 
We can’t force him to sell, and the new 
dormitory will have to be built away off in 
the woods back of all the other buildings. 
It’s a wretched shame, because Jonathan 


BRIARCLIFFE 


49 


Wood doesn’t really care about that land.” 
She stopped to get her breath, and suddenly 
looked up. 

“Dear me!” she exclaimed. “Here we 
are at Mead. I had no idea that we were 
so near, but then, I guess, I was talking a 
blue streak, and I lose all sense of everything 
else when I once get started. Say, do you 
know, I forgot to look after your trunks at 
the station. I must meet another train at 
3:12. Give me your checks, and I’ll have 
your baggage sent up.” 

The freshmen went into the reception- 
room where they were cordially welcomed by 
the house-mother, who called to an attractive 
girl standing near the window watching the 
arrivals, and asked her to take the newcomers 
to their rooms on the second floor. 

Diana had a pretty room furnished with 
Victorian furniture. A deep bay-window 
overlooked the campus, and a comfortable 
tapestry-covered seat nestled cozily in the 
nook. Two narrow brass beds were in an 
alcove. 



50 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Diana sighed rapturously, as she dropped 
her suitcase and sank into a deep, soft chair 
to glory in her good-fortune. 

“ To think that I am really to live here! ” 
she said under her breath. “ I can hardly 
realize it yet. I have left behind the Or¬ 
phanage and what it meant to me. I want 
to forget all that, and must.” 

She, however, could not help contrast¬ 
ing this luxurious place with the poor 
bare little room in the east gable of the 
Home. 

Diana found a bathroom, splashed her face 
with cold water, and did her hair over. 
When she returned to her room, a small, very 
pretty girl was there. Diana noticed that 
she wore expensive clothes and diamond 
rings. Her suitcase lay on the bed, and 
the girl sat disconsolately on the window- 
seat, still wearing her chic little hat. She 
did not look up as the door opened, but 
Diana caught the sound of a sob. When 
the girl finally turned toward her, Diana 
saw that she had been crying. 


BRIARCLIFFE 51 

“ Hello! ” she said, as she arose. “ I—I 
guess you are my roommate.” 

“ I am Diana Lynn,” Diana answered. 

“ And I am Lois Gardner,” the girl an¬ 
nounced with a wan smile. “O dear!—” 
Her chin quivered, and she dropped into the 
nearest chair. 

“ Can you tell me what is the matter? ” 
Diana laid her hand upon her roommate’s 
shoulder. 

“ I—I’m awfully homesick,” Lois replied, 
dabbing her face with a crumpled hand¬ 
kerchief, “aren’t you?” She seemed sur¬ 
prised that Diana could smile, but she was 
unable to suppress it. Diana Lynn home¬ 
sick ! That was a joke. 

Diana sat on the arm of Lois’s chair, and 
began to comfort her as she had consoled the 
orphans so many times. In a half-hour 
Lois was laughing. 

“ It was foolish of me to cry,” Lois re¬ 
marked, “ but I really couldn’t help it. I 
have never been away from home in all my 
life, and I felt so lonely sitting here alone. 



52 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


I couldn’t bear the thought of rooming with 
a strange girl, but I do like you.” 

“ I’m so glad!” Diana cried, cuddling 
down beside her roommate. “ Lois—may I 
call you Lois? ” 

“ Oh, do! ” the girl urged, falling under 
the spell of Diana’s charm, “ and I’ll call 
you Diana. Miss Gardner is so formal, 
although I do prefer to be called that by 
people who are not my friends. My father 
is Theodore Gardner, the great steel mag¬ 
nate. Do you belong to the Massachusetts 
Lynns? ” 

“ No, I have no relatives,” Diana an¬ 
swered simply. Lois, however, noted the 
good taste and quality of Diana’s costume 
and the truly patrician set of her head, and 
decided she came from good stock. Any¬ 
way, Lois liked Diana, and her snobbishness 
was merely on the surface, due to family 
traditions. 

Lois removed her hat, and fluffed out her 
dark hair. “ Did you find a bathroom? ” she 
asked. “ My ears are full of cinders! ” 


BRIARCLIFFE 53 

“Yes, there is one just three doors down 
this corridor,” Diana answered. 

Lois took a heavy-embroidered towel from 
her suitcase, and went humming down the 
hall. 

After her roommate had left, Diana heard 
gay singing in the hall: 

“ Oh, we are three jolly sophomores, 

Oh, we are three jolly sophomores, 

Te diddle, diddle, dum! ” 

It was a ridiculous jingle, but the accom¬ 
panying laughter filled Diana with a queer 
sort of delight. This was college at last! 
Just then the door opened, and, as Diana 
supposed that it was Lois, she did not lift her 
eyes from her suitcase, where she was look¬ 
ing for her silk kimono. 

“ Oh, pardon—we thought this was the 
bathroom!” a cry of surprise broke into a 
contagious laugh. 

Diana looked up. There stood three girls 
in white linen skirts and white shirtwaists. 
They were carrying their towels, wash- 


54 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


cloths, soap, and combs. One of them had 
wrapped a piece of issue-paper around her 
comb, and was making weird music on it. 

“ The bathroom is three doors farther 
down,” Diana said pleasantly. 

“ You are a freshman, aren’t you? ” one of 
the girls asked with blunt friendliness. “ I 
don’t remember seeing you here last year.” 

“ Yes, I’m a freshman,” Diana nodded. 
“ Judging from your song, you three are 
sophomores.” 

“ We are,” another girl declared proudly. 
“ Well, since we are here, let’s get ac¬ 
quainted. We live down this corridor. 
The reason we couldn’t find the bathroom is 
because we lived in Hazlett last year. Mead 
is so much more exclusive, that we changed 
this year.” 

“ Well, Dorothy, our new friend probably 
isn’t interested in our family history. What 
is your name, dear? ” The third girl pushed 
Dorothy aside and stood before Diana. 

Diana laughed. It was lovely the way 
these girls made the freshman seem one of 


BRIARCLIFFE 


55 


them. She didn’t see how any one—even a 
girl with a real mother and father—could 
be homesick very long under such sunshiny 
conditions. 

“Iam Diana Lynn,” she smiled. 

“ Well, this is Dorothy Welter,” the girl 
who had the floor pulled Dorothy forward 
by the arm, and Dorothy acknowledged the 
introduction with an irresistibly funny bow 
and, “ I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am.” 

“ This is Anne Bemis. She’s queer, but 
she’s also very nice. I remain, yours truly, 
Barbara Diehl.” 

She bobbed suddenly, and then made a 
quick dash for the bathroom as she saw Lois 
coming out. “ Quick, girls, run for your 
chance! ” she called. She shouted over her 
shoulder to Diana, “ See you again. Come 
over to my room to-night. We are going to 
have a spread.” 



CHAPTER V 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 

Diana was drowsing on the window-seat. 
A pile of books lay unopened beside her. 
It was so pleasant just to drift on the river 
of dreams, glancing now and then through 
the rifting clouds into the rosy future be¬ 
yond. Diana heard many faint whisperings 
on these rare occasions when she found time 
to indulge in the luxury of her own 
thoughts. 

What if the rain were splashing in tor¬ 
rents? Mere rain could not dash Diana 
from the heights of imaginative joy, or even 
dampen her spirit. Diana loved the rain 
as she loved the sunshine. 

Lois wandered about the room like a lost 
soul. She glanced at her books, and im¬ 
patiently tossed them aside. She hummed 

disconsolately, and tapped her fingers 

56 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 57 


against the drenched window-pane. One 
could not even see the campus buildings be¬ 
cause of the rain, and, of course, nobody was 
stirring outdoors. Finally she could re¬ 
strain herself no longer. 

“ Oh, Di! ” she cried. “ Come and play 
with me. This everlasting rain turns me 
into a restless fiend. I’ll commit murder or 
do something dreadful if I’m kept in a cage 
any longer.” 

Diana looked up with a laugh. “ What 
shall we do, honey? ” 

“ Oh, I don’t know—anything!” 

“ But I don’t know what anything 
means,” pouted Diana, lazily. “ I am so 
comfy, Lois.” 

“Dreaming!” scoffed Lois. “How can 
you find comfort in dreams? They are just 
like empty bubbles that float up and up and 
get you nowhere. I am just full of stored- 
up energy. I want to do something. I 
want action! ” 

“ Tessie Benner is cleaning her room to¬ 
night. Why not go over and help? It’s a 


58 


DIANA OF BEIARCLIFFE 


sight, after last night’s spree.” Diana made 
the suggestion mischievously. 

“ Di, you are impossible! You know very 
well it’s not that kind of action I’m crav- 
ing.” 

“ I know,” admitted her roommate, with 
a sly wink. “ You want to do something 
naughty. You are craving excitement. I 
know your moods, but I absolutely refuse to 
abet you in your wicked ways.” 

“ Since when have you turned into an 
angel-child? ” Lois taunted, frowning dis¬ 
approval at her chum. 

“ I have been sitting here for the last ten 
minutes making good resolutions,” began 
Diana, half seriously. Then she wailed, 
“ Why do you upset my good intentions, 
Lois? ” 

“ Resolutions! Pouf! ” Lois gayly pulled 
her friend from her cozy seat. “ Let’s have 
a party,” she wheedled. 

Diana looked bored. “ Oh, bother! I 
hate cleaning up on Sunday morning after a 
spread. The girls are so messy. They 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 59 


think they can do anything in here. Go out 
in the hall, and yell ‘Fire!’ That will 
create a disturbance, if you insist upon being 
wicked. Then when all are assembled, turn 
the hose on the crowd.” Diana giggled, as 
she mentally pictured the scene. 

“ No, I don’t want to get into trouble with 
the proctor again. Saidie Bird is a rather 
stiff proposition. I have had one whaling 
this week. Suggest something more lady¬ 
like and decent, Di. Something just within 
the law.” 

“ I give it up. Cook up your own mis¬ 
chief.” 

“ I’ll tell you what,” began Lois, a glitter 
of anticipation in her eyes, “ if you object to 
picking up after a feed, let’s go over to 
Anne’s room and have a surprise-party on 
her.” 

Diana chuckled. “ Kimonos? ” she asked 
wistfully, glancing at her own silken negli¬ 
gee. “ I don’t want to dress up.” 

“ Sure, kimonos if you like,” shrugged 
Lois, indifferently. “ I’ll go ahead and tell 


60 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


the others.” She quickly slipped into the 
half-darkened hall, and left mysterious mes¬ 
sages at certain doors. 

Presently the crowd gathered, and hospi¬ 
table Anne became a forced though good- 
natured hostess. 

“Are there going to be eats at this 
party? ” she asked. 

“ Of course, Anne,” declared Lois, rum¬ 
maging in Anne’s chiffonier-drawers to see 
what she could find. “ Whoever heard of a 
party without eats?” 

“ That would be like going to the zoo and 
missing the elephant!” exclaimed Tessie, 
dramatically. 

“ But I have only a box of tea-wafers 
and—O dear!” groaned poor Anne, “only 
about two pinches of tea.” 

“ Why not make it pot-luck? Everybody 
contributes.” 

They all agreed and went to seek the con¬ 
tents of their secret larders. Fay found 
half a box of chocolates. Elsie donated a 
box of Graham crackers, which Diana 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 61 

t 

turned into tasty marguerites with a half- 
pound of powdered sugar, a little cocoa, and 
some condensed cream. The cheese that 
Barbara had been hoarding for a Sunday 
night “ rabbit ” was sacrificed to the cause. 
After much searching, enough crackers were 
pooled for the feast. Cocoa, tea, and some 
nabisco wafers completed the hastily pre¬ 
pared menu. 

“ Now, let’s begin. I am starved. I 
loathe bacon and beans. I didn’t eat a speck 
of dinner.” 

“ Where is Erma Seacrist? ” 

“ Coming,” responded a soft voice, as the 
door opened and a kimonoed figure entered. 
“ Sh-h-h,” whispered Erma, bringing forth 
an unwieldy package from the folds of her 
robe. “ Saidie Bird just crossed the hall. 
I am afraid she saw me come in here. She 
will watch this room like a hawk; so we had 
better manage to finish up before the bell 
rings to-night.” 

“ Yes, indeed,” added Anne, with dignity. 
“ We’d better finish in time for you all to 


62 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

help straighten the room a bit before you 
leave.’’ 

“Oh, Anne Bemis!” cried Diana, in a 
shocked voice. “ Whoever heard of guests 
having to clean up after a party.” 

“ Well,” demanded Anne, “ can’t I 
start a new fashion if I like? ” 

“Not that kind of fashion. I’m sure your 
idea will never become popular. What have 
you in that disreputable-looking package, 
Erma? ” Diana turned suddenly to Erma, 
and began poking at the wrapping. 

“ Don’t! ” cried Erma, warningly. “ It’s 
pie. Myrtle Arden bought two cocoanut- 
cream pies at Horton’s for a spread to-night. 
It is Jacq Preston’s birthday. When I 
found we had to scratch up feed, I per¬ 
suaded Myrtle to cut one pie into eight 
pieces instead of four as she had planned. I 
was frightened stiff for fear Saidie would 
stop to ask me what I was so carefully con¬ 
cealing.” 

“You darling! ” They pounced upon her 
eagerly, almost wrecking the precious pie. 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 63 

“ Where is the knife? I want to cut the 
pie.” Lois scurried about, searching wildly 
for a knife. 

“ Eight pieces! ” called Fay. “ Oh, how 
I adore coacoanut-cream pie.” She counted 
noses, and traced imaginary cuts of pie. 
“ Can you really divide this into eight bits, 
Lois? I shouldn’t like to be slighted.” 

“ I might if I could ever find that knife,” 
said Lois with energy as she looked behind a 
cushion. 

“ There isn’t any knife,” confessed Anne. 
“ I loaned it to Pearl last week, and she 
forgot to return it.” 

“O dear!” exclaimed a tragic chorus. 

“ Use the scissors,” advised Erma. 

Lois began to hunt for the scissors, while 
Barbara found a tape-measure, and started 
marking off the pieces, making them exact, 
to the sixteenth of an inch. 

When the “ eats ” were consumed, and the 
stunts performed, Tessie entertained them 
with a highly-colored story of a freak fresh¬ 
man whom she had discovered living on the 


64 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 

lower floor of Mead Hall where the most 
expensive suites were located. 

“ She is a scream!” Tessie informed her 

% 

eager listeners, punctuating her remarks 
with little rippling giggles. “ She reminded 
me of the little maid who was all dressed up 
with no place to go. Fancy appearing in 
a red georgette dress in Professor Alton’s 
chemistry class. The prof frowned at her 
as if she were some kind of wild bird that 
had flown in by mistake. You know how 
particular he is about proper apparel for 
schoolgirls. Didn’t she preen and strut and 
admire her own feathers though! Dear, O 
dear! And she held Freda Harding and the 
little Cook girl simply entranced with tales 
of her social conquests in high school. She 
said, with an air, you know, that she be¬ 
longed to the most select sorority, and went 
around with the best set. She also an¬ 
nounced her intention of getting a bid to 
Briarcliffe’s most exclusive sorority. It 
was too funny! The self-esteem that girl 
had!” 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 65 


“ A snob, eh? ” inquired Erma, bluntly. 
“ Doesn’t she know there are no sororities at 
Briarcliffe? ” 

“ It seems not,” Tessie shrugged her 
shoulders. “ Poor child! She is all set to 
conquer new fields. I am afraid she is 
doomed to disappointment. She certainly 
was trying to impress those big-eyed fresh¬ 
men. I’ll warrant she convinced them there 
was never a girl more worthy of popularity 
than herself, and that she meant to lead a 
bunch at Briarcliffe.” 

“ Don’t you think we ought to take her 
in hand and rub off the edges?” inquired 
Fay, listlessly. 

Tessie nodded vigorously. “ She was a 
bit nasty, too. Cut quite dead that little 
Natalie person, who is so sweet to every one. 
Beally, I couldn’t like her a bit after that.” 

“ Cut Natalie, eh? She ought to be taught 
a lesson in democracy. So she wants to be 
leader of a sorority? I have an idea! 
Girls, let’s pretend we are a sorority, the 
most exclusive in Briarcliffe. We’ll send 


66 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


her a bid. Won’t it be fun to initiate her? ” 
Mischief and resentment showed in Diana’s 
eyes. 

“ Oh, Di, what fun! Let’s do it to-night,” 
begged Lois. 

“ Who will carry the message? ” laughed 
Anne, sitting down at her desk to pen the 
mystic summons. 

“ Not I,” declared Erma, solemnly. 
“ Saidie already has me under suspicion. 
Let Di go, it’s her scheme.” 

“ I’ll go,” Diana consented gaily. She 
threw one end of her kimono over her left 
shoulder, and pulled Anne’s soft hat over her 
tousled hair, in imitation of Napoleon’s 
favorite pose. “ Shall I bring the captive 
with me? ” 

“No, just sneak back by yourself. We 
will need you to help hatch up a few stunts.” 

“ She will come dressed fit to kill,” prophe¬ 
sied Tessie. She glanced at the other ki- 
mono-clad figures. “ This is no place for 
fine raiment,” she added suggestively. 

“ Tessie, find an appropriate robe for the 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 67 


candidate,” ordered Lois hurriedly. “ We 
must make this ceremony impressive.” 

“ The janitor left his overalls in the closet 
off the cellar-way. I’ll go after them-” 

“ Just the thing. The garb of democracy. 
But don’t let Saidie catch you.” 

Tessie dodged through the hall, evading 
Saidie’s eagle-eye. Presently she came back 
with the smuggled garments under her 
arm. 

When the candidate appeared, the girls 
concealed their smiles under feigned dignity. 
Her marcelled hair, rouged cheeks, and fash¬ 
ionable frock were in ridiculous contrast to 
the tousled heads and unconventional attire 
of the “ secret band.” 

“ Oh,” cried Prue Hobson, the candidate 
for initiation into the sanctities of the Pie 
Eaters Sorority, as Lois had impulsively 
named it, thinking of the time-worn pun on 
“ Pi Eta,” “ I must be in the wrong room. 
I—I—thought this message said room 


“You are in the right place. Come in. 






68 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


This is the royal sanctum of the Pie Eaters 
Sorority, the most exclusive sorority at 
Briarcliffe.” Diana pulled the hesitant girl 
into the room. When she heard Diana’s re¬ 
assuring words, Prue uttered a sigh of relief. 

“ I have always gone around with the best 
people, you know.” 

Lois turned out the lights. 

“ Oh, what are you going to do? ” asked 
the candidate, anxiously. 

“ Be not afraid,” Tessie’s voice was full of 
suppressed laughter. “ Now, girls, don’t 
get too rough. Let’s see, an initiation usu¬ 
ally begins by giving the candidate her 
bumps, doesn’t it? ” 

“ Get the robe of the ghost,” demanded 
Barbara. 

“ Hush,” called Diana, trying to make her 
voice sound impressive and solemn. “ The 
hour is late. We must put the pledge 
through the tests at once. Fellow conspira¬ 
tors and sleep-robbers, you know what 
calamities await this candidate if she is dis¬ 
covered out of her own room after hours.” 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 69 


“ Yea, yea, verily,” they chanted. 

“ Take the pledge into the bathroom. 
Wash the rouge off her cheeks, and put her 
into the uniform of the sorority,” ordered 
Diana. 

Prue fretted and fussed when compelled 
to take off her dress. Luckily she could not 
see what she was getting into, but even if 
she had, it would have availed her nothing to 
protest, for a dozen eager hands were aiding 
in the change. Ashamed she submitted to 
having her cheeks scrubbed. When Prue 
was clad in the overalls, the lights were 
switched on, and the culprits stood back to 
admire their handiwork. 

“ Why, I thought this was a sorority, not 
a rowdy party!” she cried aghast. “ I 
never-” 

“ But, my dear,” soothed Diana, “ this 
sorority is ‘ different.’ Perhaps you have 
never even heard of it before; it is the most 
secret, the most exclusive organization at 
Briarcliffe. Among the members it is 
known as an Anti-Snob society. You can 



70 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


see the purpose in the name. Pie Eaters is 
only a foolish name for the benefit of unin¬ 
itiated outsiders.” 

“ We stand foremost for democracy,” an¬ 
nounced Anne. 

“For the working man!” added Fay, 
jumping on a chair and assuming a dramatic 
attitude. 

“ Oh, Fay, you look like a soap-box ora¬ 
tor! ” grinned Barbara. 

The fastidious Miss Hobson looked both 
astonished and vexed. 

“ Do you wish to join our band? ” inquired 
Diana. “ I assure you it is a great honor to 
get a bid to our inner circle. Only the elite 
are favored.” 

“ I have always moved in the very best 
sets,” the candidate began. “ In Wellsburg, 
where I-” 

Diana interrupted. She had a brilliant 
inspiration. “ Will the candidate please put 
the room to rights? Dishes may be washed 
in the bathtub.” 

Diana felt Anne squeezing her arm. 



THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 71 

“ Happy thought, oh, genius of my hearth/’ 
said Anne, gratefully. 

Prue objected strenuously, but Diana in¬ 
formed her that any pledge who objected to 
the tests was sure to be blackballed. It was 
always best to yield gracefully or not at all. 
Only very docile, democratic members with 
good natures were included in this most ex¬ 
clusive membership. Immediately the can¬ 
didate became more submissive, and washed 
the dishes obediently. 

Barbara told Prue all about the family- 
trees and full coffers of the various Pie Eat¬ 
ers. There were Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, 
Astors, and daughters of earls among their 
number. The personnel was impressive, if 
imaginary, and Miss Hobson did not sus¬ 
pect that they were only fooling. 

“ What are you going to have her do 
next? ” whispered Erma. 

Diana opened the door a crack. The cor¬ 
ridor was deserted. 

“ Scrub down the stairs with a tooth¬ 
brush,” was the retort. 


72 


DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


Prue Hobson had to obey the order or be 
expelled from the sorority before she had 
been let into its mysteries. The giggling 
girls crouched on the steps, and clung to the 
balustrade while Prue labored conscien¬ 
tiously with a glass of water and a tooth¬ 
brush. 

Suddenly they heard a door slam, and ran 
to Anne’s room like frightened mice. 

“ Saidie? ” everybody questioned. 

“ ‘ All is quiet on the Potomac,’ ” reported 
Anne, opening the door to investigate. 
“ Must have been down on the other floor 
after all.” 

The girls sighed with relief. 

“ Now what? ” 

“ Let’s send the pledge to the pantry to 
forage,” suggested some one, for want of a 
better inspiration. 

“ Oh, I couldn’t possibly eat another 
thing! I’m stuffed! ” 

“I know! Let’s play barber-shop,” 
Diana proposed gleefully. “ I am just dy¬ 
ing to have my hair bobbed like our hon- 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 73 

orable candidate’s. Let her be the barber, 
and we’ll be the customers.” 

“ Oh, I couldn’t! Don’t ask me to do 
that! Please don’t be foolish-” 

“ But it’s great to be foolish,” laughed 
Diana, recklessly. 

Anne wiped the pie from the blades of the 
scissors, and thrust them into Prue’s hand. 
Diana drew a chair to the center of the room, 
while Tessie pulled a sheet from the bed and 
tied it around Diana’s neck. 

“ Pledge, cut Diana’s hair. Bob it 
prettily,” commanded Lois, solemnly. 

Diana nodded. She had wanted to have 
her hair bobbed during the prevailing fash¬ 
ion, but had hesitated for various reasons. 
In the moment when she had abandoned her¬ 
self to excitement, she was ready for any¬ 
thing. So snip, snip! Diana’s locks fell to 
the floor. 

“ Oh, doesn’t Diana look perfectly dar¬ 
ling? ” the girls exclaimed and several de¬ 
cided to be customers at Prue’s barber-shop. 

“ Won’t your mothers object? ” asked 



74 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Prue, tremblingly. “ I had a dreadful time 
getting permission to have my hair bobbed.” 

“ Oh, Mother won’t mind,” laughed Tes- 
sie, slipping into the chair as Diana ran to 
look into the mirror. 

Snip, snip! 

Then the bell rang. 

“ Scoot to your rooms,” said Anne. “ If 
Saidie catches me up after hours again, she’ll 
report me sure.” 

“ But I can’t go now with only half my 
hair off,” shrieked Tessie in alarm. “ Hurry, 
dear, cut the rest off quickly.” 

Snip, snip! 

The second bell rang. A knock sounded 
on the other side of the door. All was quiet 
within. The exclusive Pie Eaters crouched 
in the corners of the room. Anne reached 
for the switch, and turned off the lights. 
The button snapped noisily. 

“ Anne,” Saidie Bird’s screechy voice was 
heard outside. “ Your lights are on after 
hours again. You also have visitors in your 
room, which is strictly against the rules. 


THE PIE EATERS SORORITY 75 


Please open the door so that I may get the 
names of your guests.” 

Anne drew a frightened breath. She 
sparred for time. “ Saidie, you must be mis¬ 
taken -” 

“ Open the door, please. No quibbling. 
I have no time to waste. I am responsible 
for this floor, and I mean to enforce the rules 
to the letter.” 

Anne knew Saidie would call the house 
mother if she delayed; so she opened the 
door. 

There stood Saidie Bird, her eyes aghast 
behind her horn-rimmed glasses, but her hair 
as sleek and unruffled as ever. The girls fol¬ 
lowing her terrified stare, saw on the rug 
the long strands of telltale hair. 

“ What have you been up to now? What 
have you been up to? ” shrieked Saidie. 

“ We have only been having a hair-bob¬ 
bing party,” declared Diana, innocently. 
“ What is so terrible about that? You see we 
couldn’t leave after the first bell because only 
half of Tessie’s hair was off. She’d have 



76 


DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


looked a sight only half-bobbed, you know. 
Surely you must concede that, Saidie.” 

The proctor glared and Diana felt prop¬ 
erly squelched. 

“ Go to your rooms,” demanded the furi¬ 
ous young woman. 

As the culprits filed out, Saidie stood stiff 
and unyielding and jotted down their names. 
When Prue in her overalls attempted to slip 
by, she was detained. 

“ Who are you? ” snapped the irate 
guardian of the corridor. 

Prue Hobson was as meek as could be. 
All desire to be a sorority leader had fled. 
There was a sob muffled under her name as 
she gave it. 

“ I am not sure but you will all be ex¬ 
pelled after this night’s performance,” were 
Saidie’s parting words. 

The hair-bobbing stunt did not 
nearly so funny at this moment. 


seem 



“What have you been up to now?”— Page 76 . 
















CHAPTER VI 


A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 

The members of the hair-bobbing party 
were not expelled, but they went about 
quaking in their boots for several days. 
Saidie’s report was not nearly so severe as 
she led the girls to believe it would be. Some¬ 
where there must have been a tender, toler¬ 
ant vein under her granite exterior. 

Diana’s guardian and Tessie’s mother 
offered no objections to the bobbing, so that 
simplified matters exceedingly. Bobbed 
heads appeared so thick and fast in the class¬ 
rooms that the teachers gave up trying to 
keep track of them. 

When Prue found out that the sorority 
was only a joke, she discarded her snobbish 
ways, rouge, and frills and became rather a 

likable and subdued person. 

77 


78 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ I—I—am rather ashamed,” Diana told 
her in a moment of contrition. 

“ You needn’t be,” Prue returned sweetly. 
“ I guess I needed a lesson. I had rather a 
false idea of popularity.” 

“ I was pretty rude,” Diana insisted with 
a sigh. 

“ Awfully funny,” declared Prue. 

A good laugh cemented their friendship. 

After the sting of the lecture given by the 
president himself on the advisability and im¬ 
portance of obeying house rules had worn 
off and the ban on their liberties and good 
times had been lifted, affairs went on as 
before. 

“ Next Thursday we can venture off the 
campus once more,” sighed Anne, counting 
the days on her fingers. “ Goodness, I’ll 
never be bad again. I hate being punished. 
I feel as if I had been chained to these build¬ 
ings for ages. I want to go for a long hike. 
I want to walk miles and miles and miles.” 

Barbara smiled understandingly. “ Yes, 
dear.” 



A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 


79 

Diana was gazing off toward the moun¬ 
tain-top. “ Let’s go up the mountain, and 
cook a steak next Saturday.” 

“ A picnic. O joy! That is just what 
I wanted to do most of everything, only I 
couldn’t think of it,” Lois declared. 

“ Luckily one of our crowd has brains left 
to think with,” Diana observed coolly. 

“We will stay all day,” Tessie said en¬ 
thusiastically. “ I have always wanted to ex¬ 
plore those heights. There is the quaintest 
little village in the foot-hills yonder. An 
old-fashioned kind of place with traditions 
and memories. It looks full of delightful 
mystery. When our train stopped there to 
take water, I shut my eyes and saw a whole 
troop of redcoats advancing over the hill.” 

“Oh, Tess!” cried Diana, lifting her 
hands in mock amazement. “ You didn’t 
let them advance into the village and kill all 
the good people? ” 

“Oh, no!” answered Tessie. “At that 
moment, George Washington came forth 
from his headquarter^ in a funny little stone- 


80 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


house, and summoned his forces from their 
hiding-places. They were ready for the 
attack. The redcoats turned and ran like 
sixty.” 

“ Bravo! ” shouted Lois. 

“ Washington did have his headquarters 
in a little stone house near the village,” Anne 
informed them. “ There is a bronze tablet 
over the door that says so.” 

“How interesting!” mused Diana. “I 
love to wander around those places.” 

“We will celebrate our freedom by 
tramping to the mountain and poking about 
in historical haunts. We’ll gather facts, and 
then Di can write a new history.” Fay 
looked at the others for approval. 

“ Erma, can you go? You can be chief 
poker.” 

Erma laughed. “ I will go if I can pre¬ 
pare my French between now and Satur¬ 
day. French lessons always interfere when 
I want to do something else. Obstinate 
things! ” 

“ Oh, bother your lessons! ” laughed Lois, 


A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 


81 


flippantly. “ You can do them when you 
can’t go exploring.” 

Erma, shook her head. “ I’ll have to hand 
this one in. I have already had one unsatis¬ 
factory.” 

“ Oh, those horrid old unsats! There is 
always something to take the joy out of life,” 
groaned Tessie. 

“ I’ll go straight to my room, and begin 
my French this minute,” decided Erma, sud¬ 
denly. “Let no one dare to follow me, 
please. Visitors not welcome.” 

Laughingly, she departed. 

Eight girls in sweaters, knit caps, and 
tramping boots set out from Mead Hall on 
Saturday. Erma had finished her task, and 
was with them, cheery and jolly in a red 
sweater and jaunty red cap. 

They met a farmer who took them a part 
of the way on a hay-rack. It was a merry 
ride, and eased the feet which were not yet 
hardened to the open road. The tramp was 
care-free and Gypsy-like. They stopped 
when they wished in the shade of stately old 


82 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


elms, or ran helter-skelter on the trail of a 
rare butterfly. 

They followed the laughter of a little 
brook into a deep forest whose carpet was of 
green velvet with an intricate pattern of 
pine-needles. 

It was in this delightful forest-patch they 
broiled their steak over a bed of hot coals. 
The autumn air had just the right twang to 
whet their appetites. The coals had just the 
right temperature to sizzle the steak to a 
crispy brown. 

Then they followed a cow-path to the vil¬ 
lage, and explored the queer old houses. 
Many of them were empty and crumbling. 
They found the old stone house that Tessie 
had mentioned, and Diana wove weird tales 
for them as they sat around the disfigured 
old fireplace to rest. The more impossible 
the story, the more they applauded. Yet 
each wondered quite seriously what kind of 
plans had been made in the low-ceiled old 
tavern-room. 

They decided to go home by the river road. 


A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 


83 


“ I’m tired,” announced Lois, unexpect¬ 
edly. She had not realized it before. “We 
must have walked miles and miles.” 

“ Yes,” declared Diana, lagging a little as 
she took Tessie’s arm. “ Tessie wanted to, 
didn’t you, dear? ” 

“ Yes,” responded Tessie, meekly, “ but I 
have had sufficient freedom for one day. I 
want my own little bed. Goodness, how my 
feet ache! Can’t we find some place to 
rest? ” 

“ That looks like a house over there,” ob¬ 
served Barbara, shading her eyes and peer¬ 
ing through the trees toward the river. 
“ Let’s see who can reach it first. We can 
stop there a while. How I’d like a drink of 
fresh, cool wat^r! ” 

It seemed easier to go on when there was 
a goal in sight. 

But the house proved to be only the ruins 
of an old brick church. It had long since 
been deserted as the decaying boards, fallen 
bricks, sagging roof, and vacant interior 
mutely bore witness. 


84 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“I’m cold!” shivered Erma, “the wind 
must have grown sharper since morning. 
Let’s sit in the shelter of the walls where it 
can’t strike us.” She crept inside rather 
cautiously. 

“ Look out for bats and mice! ” laughed 
Tessie. 

Prue shuddered and looked about her half 
fearfully. As the others advanced, she kept 
close behind. 

The church had once been a sturdv little 

«/ 

structure. The walls were thick and parts 
of them still held together under the clam¬ 
bering ivy tendrils that seemed to be trying 
to support them. A streak of black, zig¬ 
zagging along one corner where the belfry 
had been, indicated the path cf the lightning 
which had destroyed the little church. 

The floor of oaken timbers was rotted, 
charred, and half-hidden by piles of crum¬ 
bling bricks and mortar. Here and there, 
remnants of the walls were framed in cas¬ 
cades of waxy green leaves. Once these 
openings had been windows. Lois ran 


A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 85 

across the scattered debris and sat down in 
a corner. 

“ Doesn’t that wind bite? Reallv, it 
didn’t seem so cold going up the mountain! ” 

“ This spot is less sheltered,” remarked 
Barbara. “ Besides, the sun was high then, 
now it is nearing the horizon.” 

“O dear!” lamented Erma, “then we 
must not linger long. Darkness comes so 
swiftly in the fall.” 

“ Be careful, Fay!” cautioned Tessie, as 
Fay ran briskly over the debris and sent a 
shower of mortar raining down. “ Perhaps 
we ought not to walk about in here. I am 
not anxious to be buried alive.” 

Barbara was carelessly poking under the 
bricks with a stick when it suddenly went 
through a charred space in the floor. She 
looked at her hand, and made a wry face as 
she saw the streak of grime across her palm. 

“Ugh!” she shuddered, “this is a dirty 
place. We shall look like a party of coal- 
diggers. Let’s go on.” 

“ Oh, no! ” cried Diana, coming close and 


86 


DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


sticking her fingers into the hole that Bar¬ 
bara’s prodding stick had made. “ I simply 
cannot leave this fascinating place. Can’t 
you sense the mystery that hangs over this 
old ruin? Our forefathers worshipped here. 
I want to explore it! ” 

“Don’t!” objected Erma. “It really 
doesn’t look safe. Suppose that jagged wall 
should fall upon us? ” 

“Don’t suppose such horrid things!” 
pleaded Diana. “ Instead let’s make-believe 
we might find some long-buried treasure or 
something interesting.” 

“ Di! You imaginative creature. I sup¬ 
pose you will be telling us next that this was 
once a smuggler’s rendezvous.” 

“ No—but,” Diana hesitated and her eyes 
grew big and round as she gripped her fin¬ 
gers about something in the narrow hole be¬ 
neath the floor. She drew out her hand, and 
showed a handful of old-fashioned bullets to 
the startled crowd, which had gathered 
around her. 

“ My word! I’ll wager this ammunition 


A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 


87 


was put here for some sort of expected emer¬ 
gency.” She reached in her hand again. 
After a great deal of tugging and with as¬ 
sistance from several pairs of hands, she 
brought forth an old army musket. “ This 
place must have been used as a fort,” she 
cried excitedly. “ I have read somewhere or 
other that many churches were used as forts 
in the dangerous days when the colonists 
were fighting for liberty.” 

“Oh, Di, is there anything else down 
there? ” Lois asked eagerly. 

Diana thrust her hand into the opening 
once more. It seemed as if there were tiny 
niches under the floor. She withdrew some¬ 
thing which proved to be a musty little black 
book. She hardly had time to glance at it, 
however, for Tessie chose this moment to 
scramble over a pile of bricks and send her¬ 
self and a shower of mortar toppling toward 
the little group. 

“Look out!” shouted Tessie, attempting 
to jump clear of the avalanche. As she 
came down, her ankle struck against an un- 


88 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


yielding brick, and she sank to the floor, her 
face distorted with pain. 

“ O dear! What have I done now? I am 
always getting into trouble. Oh, it hurts, 
it hurts! ” She groaned and closed her eyes. 

“ I knew we ought not to stay here,” said 
Barbara, fretfully. “ I was afraid some¬ 
thing would happen.” 

“ Oh, Babs, stop hanging crape! ” begged 
Erma. 

“ Does it hurt very much, Tessie, dar¬ 
ling? ” asked Diana, sympathetically. She 
had thrust the little black book into her 
sweater-pocket, and was kneeling beside 
Tessie. 

“ It hurts—dreadfully—o-h-h-h! ” sniffed 
Tessie. Diana drew out her handkerchief, 
and wiped the injured girl’s eyes. 

An examination disclosed only a bruised 
ankle and not a broken one as they had 
feared. 

The shadows crept through the festooned 
openings, and the sun hung low in a sea of 


crimson. 



A LITTLE BLACK BOOK 


89 


When the pain had eased and Tessie was 
calmer, Diana bound up the injury with 
handkerchiefs. 

“ We must get back,” warned Fay. 
“ Saidie will be sure to report us if we are 
late. I don’t want to work off any more 
penalties, goodness knows! ” 

Soon the ruins were left in the distance. 
Progress was slow, however, as the girls took 
turns assisting Tessie to limp along on one 
foot. It was nearly a mile to the trolley, but 
if there had been no car to Briarcliffe, it 
might have been long past midnight before 
they reached their destination. 

As it was, they reached the dormitory just 
as the bell rang. Tessie was sent to the in¬ 
firmary to have her ankle dressed while the 
others hurried to make themselves present¬ 
able for dinner. 

Diana hung her old sweater in the closet, 
in her excitement having forgotten all about 
the curious little black book in her pocket. 


CHAPTER VII 


A WARNING 

It was November, and Briarcliffe was 
beautiful. The maple-trees were great 
mounds of red and gold leaves, towering ma¬ 
jestically against the hazy blue sky. The 
air was pungent with the odor of burning 
leaves. 

Diana was walking across the campus. 
She was seriously thinking of hard, solid 
facts; she hardly ever had day-dreams now. 
There was no need of exercising her imagi¬ 
nation, for the realities exceeded her wildest 
dreams. 

Diana Lynn was very popular. She be¬ 
longed to numerous clubs, and was a member 
of the most exclusive set at Briarcliffe. Her 
days and evenings were one mad whirl of 

excitement. The girl was like a bit of drift- 

90 


A WARNING 


91 


wood on a mighty wave, being tossed hither 
and thither with the tide. College became 
to her not an institution of learning, but a 
place of merry-making. She had been de¬ 
nied fun for so long that instead of enjoying 
her good times in sensible draughts she took 
them in gulps until she became intoxicated 
with pleasure. Diana’s feet were rapidly 
slipping, but she did not realize the dire 
calamity that overshadowed her. 

Needless to say, her lessons suffered. 
Madam Horton as yet did not know the state 
of affairs that existed. Diana sent her a 
chatty letter every week—she somehow 
found time to do that—and when she wrote 
she felt the pin-pricks of conscience. Then 
one of the girls would drop in with some 
newly-planned lark, and lately it was very 
easy for Diana to forget. 

To-day the memory of Miss Henderson’s 
sarcastic speech after Diana had failed for 
the third successive time in history class rang 
unpleasantly in her ears. 

“ I am sorry I did not study my history,” 


92 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Diana thought remorsefully, as she plodded 
slowly along the deserted campus path. 
“ Just a half-hour’s work would have given 
me a perfect lesson—yet I never opened my 
book last night. I really meant to, but Bar¬ 
bara and Dorothy came in, and Lois insisted 
on making fudge. Then the ten o’clock bell 
rang before we realized. And, O dear, 
there’s that lovely supper at Conklin’s to¬ 
night, and the spread in Hilda Ramsey’s 
room afterward. I’ll have to give them up 
and prepare my lessons for to-morrow. I 
simply mustn’t fail again.” 

Before Diana realized it, she had come to 
the high board fence that separated Briar- 
cliffe from Jonathan Wood’s estate. Just 
as she turned with a little laugh, she saw a 
girl running toward her. 

Although the girl was plain-looking, her 
face had a sincere expression. She did not 
have the kind of clothes that Diana’s fash¬ 
ionable friends wore, but her blouses w T ere 
always fresh and clean, and her blue serge 
skirt free from wrinkles. 



A WARNING 93 

“Why, Natalie!” Diana exclaimed. 
“ What is the matter? ” 

Natalie sank down on a huge rock. “ I 
have been chasing you for the longest time! 
One can hardly ever find you alone. I 
wanted to give you these history notes. They 
take in the lessons for the last three days 
and to-morrow. I find it so much easier to 
get the main facts this way.” 

“Natalie!” Diana’s voice was low and 
pleased, “ you did this for me? Dear, it was 
sweet of you! You pitied me because I had 
to answer 4 Not prepared ’ again, and you 
were afraid I would do the same to-morrow.” 

44 Well,” Natalie laughed, 44 1 knew about 
the supper your crowd is having at Conklin’s 
to-night, and I knew that you wouldn’t have 
much time to study. Diana, I don’t want 
you to flunk-” 

Diana looked up with a surprised glance. 

44 Yes,” Natalie went on eagerly, 44 that’s 
what they call it here. It means complete 
failure. If one has not passed with a certain 
average by mid-year’s, she is sent home.” 



94 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Natalie! ” Diana cried, “ is that true? ” 

“ Quite true,” Natalie observed sadly. 

Diana tried to swallow the lump that came 
into her throat. 

“ I have been a horrid little beast,” she bit 
off sharply. “ I don’t believe there’s an 
ounce of good in me. Natalie Blake, what 
makes you like me? ” 

“ I don’t know,” Natalie beamed tenderly 
at Diana’s questioning face. “ There is 
something about you that just draws one to 
you. Then I like you because when I was 
a forlorn, weepy little freshman you took me 
to your room, and had a party for me—for 
me! Of course, I didn’t fit in with the rest 
of your friends, but I loved you for asking 
me.” 

“ Dear, kind, good little Natalie! ” Diana 
put her arm through Natalie’s, and led the 
way back to the dormitory. “I’m going to 
study to-night,” she promised as she left her 
friend. 

Natalie lived in a house off the campus. 
She cooked her own meals, and earned spend- 



A WARNING 


95 


ing-money by ironing shirt-waists, blacking 
shoes, designing party favors, and doing any 
other work that came her way. 

Diana devoted the evening to hard study, 
and consequently was able to recite with 
some degree of accuracy the next morning. 
She worked conscientiously for three days, 
then the pleadings of her persistent friends 
began to bombard the shaking fortress of her 
resolutions. 

As yet Diana had not had time to do any 
story-writing except the themes that were 
required as part of her English work. She 
had almost forgotten she had ever wanted to 
be an author. 

She had settled down in her deep chair 
with a Latin grammar, when Lois playfully 
tried to draw the book away from her. 

“ Diana,” she pouted sweetly, “ you really 
make me tired. Come and play with me— 
do. You haven’t had any fun for three 
days, and the spreads and the parties are 
woefully dull without you. Come on, honey, 
the girls are going for a walk on the cliffs. 



96 


DIANA OF BRIAKCLIFFE 


There is the quaintest little cove down the 
river which we can reach by going down a 
steep path! Elsie Freeman says a lot of 
driftwood is there, and we can make a fire, 
and have supper by moonlight. Babs will 
take her ukulele, and you have no idea how 
enchanting Beth’s voice is by the water! 
The queerest echoes! Oh, my dear, doesn’t 
it sound inviting? ” 

“ Don’t tempt me,” Diana pleaded, as she 
clung to her book half-heartedly. “ Miss 
Henderson smiled at me quite pleasantly this 
afternoon. I have had my history lesson 
perfect for three consecutive days.” 

Just then Barbara, Anne, Dorothy, Beth, 
and Elsie came in, and Lois appealed to 
them for help. 

“ Lend me your forces, girls,” Lois 
laughed gayly. “ Diana has suddenly de¬ 
veloped an abnormal studious streak, and I 
am coaxing her to come to Shadow Cove 
with us.” 

“ Oh, do come,” Barbara begged, picking 
up Diana’s heavy sweater and knit cap from 


A WARNING 97 

the chair where Diana had flung them as she 
entered. 

“ Toasted bacon, roasted eggs, toast, 
pickles, cheese, olives, cakes with chocolate 
icing and cherries on ’em—um-m-m! ” 

Diana laughed. “ I do want to go,” she 
began hesitatingly. 

“ Of course you do,” Dorothy urged. 
“ Put on your things and come along. Who 
cares for stupid old lessons! You can study 
when you can’t tramp over cliffs. It will 
soon be too cold and icy to do it.” 

“ But then we can skate and go toboggan¬ 
ing,” Anne cried delightedly. “ Come 
along, forget all about lessons. I manage to 
keep my head just above water, and that’s 
all I care about.” 

“ But I haven’t even been doing that,” 
Diana declared. “ I failed four times out of 
seven. I don’t want to flunk and be sent 

home. Oh-h-” A sudden remembrance 

of who she was, and why she was at Briar- 
cliffe rushed over her. “ Oh, I mustn’t be,” 
she wailed in distress. 



98 


DIANA OF BRIAKCLIFFE 


“You have been listening to some sopho¬ 
more who has been trying to frighten you/’ 
said Anne. “ It’s all nonsense. No one is 
ever sent home. They just say those absurd 
things to scare freshmen. Cram for exams 
and even up your average. That’s what I 
am going to do.” 

“Oh, bother studies, anyway!” Barbara 
Diehl said disgustedly as she sat down on the 
window-seat and crossed her feet emphat¬ 
ically, showing two sheer silk stockings. 
“ The girls in our set aren’t here to study, 
anyway. They are here to be 4 finished ’ and 
to have a good time. I would much rather 
have stayed in Boston, but Dad insisted that 
I have a few years of college discipline. Dis¬ 
cipline, indeed! Well, I am shunning that 
part of my education. I love to be just free 
and reckless, like the birds.” 

Diana turned to Anne. “ Do you mean 
that about not being sent home? ” she in¬ 
quired anxiously. 

“ Of course, baby.” 

The girls laughed and began to shove 


A WARNING 99 

Diana’s arms into her sweater-sleeves. Elsie 
placed her cap on her head at a ridiculous 
angle, and she was led out without further 
protests. She sighed deeply with relief as 
she reached the open air. 

“ I’ll race you to the cedar-hedge,” she 
called, and they all broke into a run. 

Then Anne dropped the lunch-basket, and 
tumbled over it. It was set to rights amid 
much laughter. Diana acted care-free and 
joyous, almost feverishly so, in her attempt 
to keep her mind wholly on the good time 
she was having. 

The girls cautiously made their way down 
the side of the cliff, and hurriedly gathered 
a huge pile of driftwood. When the flames 
leaped into the air, Diana cut long sticks 
with the bread-knife, and she sat on a log to 
toast the strips of bacon. Finally the blaze 
burnt her cheeks, and she called to Barbara, 
who was listlessly throwing stones into the 
river, “ Babs, my face is simply fried! Come 
try your luck a while.” 

It was a glorious repast. There were 


100 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


% 

pebbles in the bacon, and the toast was 
charred. Anne dropped a toasted egg in 
the sand, and afterward scooped it up and 
ate it because there weren’t enough to go 
round. The coffee, boiled in tomato-cans, 
was full of grounds; and Diana’s folding- 
cup collapsed, spilling the muddy liquid over 
her clean sweater. They giggled at every¬ 
thing. 

Dorothy gave a funny imitation of the 
college president making a speech. Barbara 
played her ukulele, and Beth Dennis’s really 
remarkable voice floated across the water to 
the opposite cliff and then came back to them 
with the queerest, haunting echoes. 

“ I haven’t had so much fun for ages!” 
Diana laughed gleefully. 

“Not since three days ago,” Dorothy de¬ 
clared. “ Don’t you recall how funny Helen 
Ewing was at Hilda’s costume-party? Her 
travesty on 4 Hamlet ’ was really unique. 
We must remember her when the college 
gives its annual play. I never knew the girl 
had talent. It is surprising what a lot of 


A WARNING 


101 


hidden virtues and faults college will bring 
out.” 

“Oh!” Barbara’s quick exclamation 
rang out like a shot, and the others jumped 
up with startled cries only to hear her low 
drawl mingled with an impish laugh. “ I 
only wanted to say that the basket-ball notice 
was posted on the bulletin-board to-day. 
You freshmen better come out strong. You 
know there is great rivalry between the 
sophomore and freshman teams. Are you 
trying out, Di? ” 

Diana’s brown eyes glowed. “ Oh, I want 
to!” she thrilled. “Perhaps I had better 
catch up in my lessons first. Does basket¬ 
ball take up much time? ” 

“ Oh, not much,” Anne answered care¬ 
lessly, “ but you must play, you are so light 
and clever on your feet. Di, do please stop 
fretting about your studies! You make me 
nervous. That warning was only some¬ 
body’s silly joke.” 

“ I truly hope it was,” Diana replied 
seriously. 


102 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


She meant to look over her mathematics 
after she got home, for there was to be a test 
the next day. But as they waited for the 
moon to come up, it was quite late when they 
reached their rooms, and there was only time 
to undress and scramble into bed before the 
ten o’clock bell rang. 


CHAPTER VIII 


DECEIT—CHEAT-DECEIT! 

44 Great news, Di! ” Lois burst into the 
room like a young whirlwind, throwing her 
coat and hat on her bed. She grasped Diana 
around the neck, and swung her about madly 
while she shouted, 44 Oh, Di, we’ve made it, 
we’ve made it, we’ve made it! ” 

44 You dear, silly goose! ” Diana laughed 
as she broke away from Lois. 44 What has 
happened?” 

44 We have made the team,” Lois an¬ 
nounced excitedly. 

44 Really!” Diana cried with pleasure. 

( 

44 1 am so glad.” 

44 Oh, everybody is talking about it!” 
Lois went on in her breathless way, 44 and 
the first game is called two weeks from 
Friday. We have practice Wednesday at 
four.” 


103 


104 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Tell me all about it,” Diana implored. 
“ Who are the others? ” 

t 

“ Helen Ewing, Dorothy Welter, that 
queer little Natalie person you are so fond 
of, and you and I. Then there are the 
subs, of course, but we made the first team. 
Isn’t it splendid? ” Lois’s ardor was slow 
to cool. 

“Then Babs didn’t make basket-ball?” 
Diana inquired. 

“ Babs—dear old Babs—is clumsy,” Lois 
said with a note of tenderness in her voice. 
“ But Babs doesn’t care. She wants to try 
for the hockey-team. She is an excellent 
skater, and they say ice forms on Fawn Lake 
in the most moderate winter weather. But 
I can’t get over rejoicing about our own 
triumphs. There were seventy-five candi¬ 
dates—and we won! ” 

“It is exciting! ” Diana chuckled. She 
hummed gayly in an effort to drown the 
small voice of conscience. She had no right 
to enjoy this new pleasure at the expense of 
her lessons, which were still below par be- 





DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! 105 


cause of her unrestrained plunge into the 
pleasures of her set after her brief three days 
of real work. 

She changed her school dress, and put on 
a very pretty blue silk afternoon gown. Lois 
was absently looking out the window, pos¬ 
sibly ■ dreaming of future basket-ball con¬ 
quests. 

“Lois, dear, will you please help me?” 
Diana cried impatiently, after wrestling for 
quite five minutes with the refractory hooks. 

“ Certainly.” Lois sprang up at once. 
“ Why, Di, where are you going? ” 

Diana, smiling with pride and satisfaction, 
answered nonchalantly, “ Alice Buckingham 
asked me to dinner this evening.” 

“ Di Lynn, you don’t mean it! Why, 
Alice Buckingham is the most popular senior 
in college—and extremely exclusive. Her 
father is a multi-millionaire, and they have 
the most gorgeous palace on Fifth Avenue. 
Lucky you! ” 

“ I was pleased when she asked me to 
come,” Diana remarked simply. “ She has 



106 DIANA OF BBIARCLIFFE 


a suite at the hotel, and we are to have dinner 
in her rooms. I’m awfully excited and 
shaky, although I’m trying not to show it. 
Do you think she’ll notice? ” 

“Absurd child!” Lois exclaimed as she 
finished the hooks and gave Diana a reassur¬ 
ing pat. 

“ I cannot imagine why she should want 
a poor little freshman like me,” Diana said, 
slipping into her coat and adjusting her hat 
on her fluffy brown hair. 

“You are extremely likable, honey,” Lois 
murmured. “ And you are popular. Then 
it’s the custom here for the senior president 
of the Dramatic Association to choose a 
president from the freshman class to carry 
on her work. This officer serves four years. 
Miss Buckingham is senior president. Per¬ 
haps she is looking for a candidate. It is a 
great honor to receive this appointment. 
Perhaps she wants to study your pos¬ 
sibilities.” 

“Oh, I wonder!” Diana breathed rap¬ 
turously. “ I’ll wear my best Sunday-go-to- 


DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! 107 


meeting manner. I’m so glad I have this 
blue dress on—it is the most becoming one I 
own.” 

Lois took several books from her desk, and 
curled up on the bed. A box of chocolates 
lay within reach. 

“ You look comfy,” Diana observed with a 
smile, as she searched diligently for a fresh 
handkerchief. “Novels ? ” 

“ Dear, no,” Lois groaned. “ Latin prose, 
math, and history. I’ve just got to review 
these lessons lightly. Somehow I’ll bluff 
over them, and give the impression that I 
have really studied. I’ll get by, all right, 
I always do.” 

“ I really ought to study, too.” Diana’s 
face clouded for a moment. “ And I have 
a theme to write for English. I promised 
Miss Hickson that I would hand it in last 
week and I didn’t. But goodness me! I’m 
not going to mar the pleasure of my evening 
with disagreeable thoughts. I’ll do the as¬ 
signment next week.” 

“ Di, you are getting real sensible,” Lois 


108 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


grinned, and Diana chuckled as she tossed 
her head defiantly. 

“ I have tried lately to drive all those un¬ 
pleasant subjects out of my mind. I only 
think of things that make me glad, and I am 
having some semblance of peace, at least. 
Life is too short to worry over things you 
know you ought to do but don’t. Sometimes 
I feel as light as air, but then again when my 
shortcomings overwhelm me, I’m as heavy 
as lead. What time is it? ” 

“ Only five,” Lois drawled as she glanced 
at her tiny wrist-watch. 

“ Oh, it’s early yet! ” Diana said. “ Alice 
doesn’t dine until six. I believe I will run 
over and read over the list of basket-ball 
names.” 

She passed Dorothy Welter on the stairs. 
“ There is a note on the bulletin-board for 
you. Miss Hickson’s monogram is on the 
corner of the envelope. Cheer up, Di! 
Here are my smelling-salts if you need 
them.” 

Diana had turned quite pale. Several of 


DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! 109 


the girls had received faculty warnings 
lately, and Diana expected one, too, although 
she had a wild hope that somehow it wouldn’t 
come. 

“ Oh, Dotty! ” Diana uttered a helpless 
cry, and fled to the hall of the main build¬ 
ing, where the bulletin-board stood, always a 
spot of intense interest. 

Trembling, she took the message from its 
niche. The letter stared at her accusingly 
as she opened it. The summons proved to be 
from Miss Hickson, who wished to see Diana 
in her study. 

Diana was soon standing tense and nerv¬ 
ous before the bright-eyed youthful instruc¬ 
tor. Diana’s face flushed with conscience- 
stricken misery. How she had abused the 
kindness of her benefactor! Her college 
course was doing her very little good, but 
was fanning the flames of her intense love 
for gaiety. When she went out in the wide, 
wide world, would she be able to succeed? 
No, she knew she would not. She sud¬ 
denly felt sick and queer, and she realized, 


110 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

to a certain extent, how foolish she had 
been. 

Miss Hickson smiled at Diana, and bade 
her sit down. The girl obeyed mechanically. 

“ Miss Lynn,” the little teacher began in 
a kind but firm voice, “ I called you here to 
give you a friendly warning. I feel so sorry 
for the girls who have ability, but fail to 
succeed through indifference. Your work in 
English has been very good. I think that 
you have talent. However, I am forced to 
tell you that the faculty is not pleased with 
your rating as a whole, and some of the 
teachers complain that you pay no attention 
to their warnings. As I said, your work in 
my class has been good, although I note that 
you are always late in handing in your 
themes. I don’t think you ever had one in 
on time.” 

Diana, blushed. She remembered the pa¬ 
per that was now long past due. “ I—I am 
dreadfully ashamed,” she confessed brokenly. 
“ I have more cause to he ashamed than you 
know. I will try to do better.” 



DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! Ill 


“ I am sure I hope so,” Miss Hickson an¬ 
swered briskly. “ And that leads to another 
matter that I must speak to you about. The 
faculty reserves the right to forbid a pupil 
with unsatisfactory standing to take part in 
athletics or other college activities. I see 
that you have been chosen to play on the 
basket-ball team, but there is one condition 
that you must comply with or the faculty 
will not allow you to accept this honor.” 

“Oh-h!” Diana’s expression was low 
and painful. 

“ Unless your theme, which is long over¬ 
due, is handed in by nine o’clock to-night, 
the condition will be enforced. Likewise if 
your work does not show immediate im¬ 
provement. If you finish your composition 
you may slip it under my door, as I shall be 
out during the evening.” 

“ Yes—thank you, Miss Hickson,” Diana 
stammered, and departed in a dazed state. 
Feeling faint and weary, she hurried to her 
room and hysterically begged Lois not to 
say a word or ask a question. In surprise 


112 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Lois lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, 
for she had long since become tired of study¬ 
ing. 

Diana feverishly tried to write her theme. 
She sat until six o’clock with her paper be¬ 
fore her, chewing her pencil point viciously, 
yet all her thoughts seemed vagrant. She 
made attempt after attempt to concentrate, 
but to no avail. She considered several sub¬ 
jects, but she did not have a single idea to fit 
any of them. Then she cried and snuggled 
down beside Lois, who comforted her in her 
usual way, while Diana told of her warning 
and condition. 

“ But, Diana,” Lois cried suddenly, “ you 
must run along to your dinner engagement. 
It would not do to offend Alice Bucking¬ 
ham, especially as the Dramatic’s presidency 
is at stake. You can get up early and write 
your theme. Your mind will be clearer in 
the morning, and you will have plenty of 
inspirations.” 

“ Oh, you dear, Lois! ” Diana gave her 
roommate a spasmodic hug. “ You do cheer 


DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! 113 


me so. I’ll do as you suggest, although I do 
hate to rise early. Do you think Miss Buck¬ 
ingham will mind me being late? ” 

“No,” Lois smiled. “ Girls never get 
anywhere on time. Run along. Bathe your 
eyes so that she won’t notice you have been 
weeping, and rub your cheeks with some of 
my cold-cream. Hurry now, and you will 
only be about ten minutes late.” 

Diana spent a very delightful evening. 
She was buoyantly, unnaturally gay, and 
she felt that the rich and popular senior was 
impressed with her personality. 

While Alice was searching through her 
desk for some snap-shots to show Diana, a 
folded paper fell to the floor. Diana picked 
up the sheet, and saw that it was a neatly 
typewritten theme which bore no name or 
class number. Diana handed the composi¬ 
tion to her hostess. 

“ Oh, that,” the senior laughed, “is a 
theme I wrote freshman year, and never 
handed in. I remember, I did two—I al¬ 
ways loved English. I considered the other 



114 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

so much better that I submitted it. I don’t 
know why I ever kept this one.” 

Diana had a sudden mad temptation. 
“ The subject looks interesting,” she re¬ 
marked. “ May I take it home and look it 
over? Perhaps I can get some ideas for a 
paper I have to prepare.” 

“ Certainly,” Alice consented generously. 

At eight o’clock Diana returned to her 
room. She slipped the manuscript into a 
fresh envelope. She wrote nothing on it, or 
on the theme. Lois was out; so Diana 
worked in secret. She hastily put on her 
sweater and knit cap, and walked to Miss 
Hickson’s apartment on Faculty Row. 

Biting her lips hard, as though to express 
her determination, she shoved the composi¬ 
tion under the door. After it was gone, she 
sobbed and half-wished she had it back. 

“You miserable cheat—miserable cheat! ” 
her conscience rebuked her. 

“ But I did not say that the theme was 
mine,” Diana tried to silence it. “ I do not 
actually claim it as mine, but if Miss Hick- 



DECEIT—CHEAT—DECEIT! 115 


son chooses to take it for granted I see no 
harm in it. And I can’t give up basket-ball. 
I never had any real fun before, and now I 
am going to fairly wallow in pleasures—I 
am—I am. It will be time enough to settle 
down and slave when I am forced to earn my 
bread and butter. Oh, I realize that this is 
a new and hateful Diana Lynn, not at all the 
Diana that I thought she was going to be. 
That Diana is dead and buried forever. 
Sometimes I loathe this Diana; she is so use¬ 
less and wicked. Then sometimes I love her 
—love her. Hush! there was no harm in 
slipping the manuscript under the door. I 
did not say it was mine. I-” 

“ Deceit—cheat—deceit,” the still small 
voice refused to be still. 

Diana talked incoherently to herself on the 
way home. She sobbed all night, and even 
Lois could not console her. The next day 
she was ill and feverish, but her friends 
flocked to visit her, bringing gifts of flowers 
and candy, until by evening she was cheered 
and restored to her lately-accustomed poise 



116 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


and carelessness of spirit. There was a 
“ rabbit ” party in her room that night, and 
Diana was the j oiliest one of the crowd. 


CHAPTER IX 


A BONFIRE 

The Briarcliffe gymnasium was filled to 
its capacity. It was the evening of the great 
freshman-sophomore game. Both teams 
were in excellent form. Class spirit ran 
high, for upon this contest depended the 
athletic honors for the year. It was with 
difficulty that the proctors managed to keep 
the exhilaration within reasonable bounds 
and maintain a semblance of order. If the 
demonstration grew too loud, it was consid¬ 
ered “ unwomanly ” by the faculty. 

When the rival teams trotted out on the 
floor, a series of class yells and songs greeted 
them. The proctors gave up trying to re¬ 
strain the enthusiasm. Banners waved and 
merry heads kept bobbing up and down until 
it seemed impossible to tell freshmen from 

sophomore supporters. The underclassmen 

117 


118 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


were ably assisted in rooting by the seniors 
and juniors. 

The whistle blew and the girls stood in 
their places eager and alert. The ball was 
thrown, and spat, spat, it went leaping over 
the floor. The game became fast and furi¬ 
ous. Diana played with vim and confidence. 
She made three baskets in the first half and 
Natalie Blake two. The sophomores had 
three baskets to their credit. Then Helen 
injured her wrist in a collision with a sopho¬ 
more-guard, and Fay Sampson was put in 
as substitute. 

The sophomores were fresh and eager 
when the second half began, and the fresh¬ 
men smiled proudly in anticipation of vic¬ 
tory. The older girls made two baskets in 
succession on fouls, and the freshmen began 
to look worried. The score was tied. 

“Oh, do something—do something!” 
some one shouted from the audience. 
“ Freshmen, don’t let them beat us! ” 

They did play a little harder after that, 
but neither side seemed to make any head- 


A BONFIRE 


119 


way. The game was rapidly drawing to a 
close. The freshman cheerers were nearly 
frantic, while the sophomore partisans were 
jubilant, as they urged their team to “ Make 
a score, make just one more score! ” 

Anne, who sat in the first row of seats 
with Elsie Freeman and Peggy Wenner, in 
her excitement unconsciously began tearing 
the roses she held in her lap. She had in¬ 
tended giving them to Diana and Lois, but 
when she noticed the mass of destruction, she 
tossed the petals into the air. Peggy 
laughed at Anne hysterically, then caught 
her by the arm, shrieking at the top of her 
voice, “ Anne Bemis, stop being so idiotic. 
Look at Diana Lynn—ah, she made it! 
Diana—Diana Lynn! ” 

The whole great room took up the cry, and 
the hall reverberated with the glad noise. 
The freshmen sang their class song, and be¬ 
gan and ended it with a cheer for Diana. 
The game was saved. Just as the freshmen 
were about to give up in despair, Diana had 
successfully eluded her opponent and, bend- 



J 

120 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

ing quickly under her outstretched arm, 
caught the ball, which an excited sophomore 
had given a wild toss. Arms waved wildly 
all about her, but in a spirit of desperation 
Diana tossed the ball with all her strength 
to the goal. It landed safely, although it 
was an almost miraculous feat, for the dis¬ 
tance was exceptional. 

Time was up and the class of ’26 had won. 
The shouts grew in volume, apparently the 
entire auditorium had gone mad. The fresh¬ 
men formed a procession, and two tall girls, 
raising Diana from the floor and making a 
seat with their hands, led the parade around 
the hall. As her admirers pelted her with 
flowers, Diana’s heart fluttered madly and a 
great lump came into her throat. 

“ I wish I were worthy of all this,” she 
sighed. “ But I am going to be recklessly 
happy to-night. I have earned it. It was 
because I won the game that they cheer me. 
I feel a delicious thrill, for I have done some¬ 
thing worth while for Briarcliffe.” Then the 
thought crept in, “ But you have no right to 


A BONFIRE 


121 


this victory; you are a cheat.” Quickly she 
thrust the disagreeable truth from her. 

Diana was heaped with praises when the 
players at last emerged from the dressing- 
rooms. Natalie smiled into her eyes, and 
tucked a forlorn little rose that she had 
picked up from the floor into Diana’s hand. 

“ I was so proud of you,” she whispered. 

“ Oh, Natalie, I wish it had been you! ” 
Diana cried with a rush of remorse. Dear, 
brave Natalie, who was really deserving, for 
she studied hard and was honest. Surely 
she should have the praises that Diana was 
receiving. 

“ Let’s have a grand demonstration,” 
somebody proposed. “ Tessie Benner says 
we are the first freshman team to win the 
championship for five years. I think we 
ought to celebrate.” 

A little later a long procession hastened 
toward the cliffs, for the girls had decided to 
build a bonfire down by the river, thinking it 
would be fun to hear the echoes ringing 
through the still winter air. 


122 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


As they started down the rocky path, Fay 
fell headlong. She was not hurt, but arose 
laughing. However, the slight accident 
gave a hint of what might happen with more 
serious effects, so that the idea of going down 
the cliffs was abandoned. 

“ But I want a great big bonfire,” Lois 
pouted. “ Do you suppose that we would 
dare build it here? ” 

“ Let’s do it, anyway,” Elsie suggested 
daringly. 

Every one seemed to be imbibed with a 
wild, reckless spirit. The girls piled up the 
fallen branches and bits of wood that they 
found on the ground. Just as they were 
about to light the huge pile, Fanny Pense 
came rushing up with an armful of sky¬ 
rockets and red lights which had been left 
over from the Fourth of July. Her father 
kept a little store in the town, and when a 
celebration was proposed, she had suddenly 
thought of the fireworks and ran home to 
get them. 

The girls fell upon her thankfully, calling 


A BONFIRE 


123 


her all sorts of endearing names until that 
quiet little person felt herself to be quite a 
heroine. 

“ Don’t you think we have arranged our 
bonfire too near Jonathan Wood’s fence? ” 
asked Fay Sampson, eying the structure 
nervously. “ He would—well, I don’t like 
to think what he would do if a spark from 
our fire happened to set it off.” 

“ Oh, don’t mention anything so terrible! ” 
Elsie Freeman shivered at the thought. 

The fire blazed cheerfully, and the girls 
made a ring around it, singing their college 
songs lustily. 

“ Oh, Lois, isn’t it wonderful? ” Diana 
whispered as she clutched Lois’s hand after 
they had become tired of the singing. “ Do 
you know, I am filled with all sorts of am¬ 
bitions, hopes, and good resolutions, to¬ 
night. Fighting for victory in the game 
seemed to make something indescribable 
surge up in my heart. I feel awfully good 
for nothing and useless. I have been a mis¬ 
erable failure, but I am really going to try 


124 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

to do better. I know that I have said that 
many times before, but I never keep my 
word. But I wish to do what is right—I 
want to make myself believe that. I have 
always had a tender feeling for my college 
—I am proud of it—but now, I want to do 
something that will make my college proud 
of me. I am going to buckle down to hard 
study.” 

“ Di, if you begin on that old song, I shall 
wash your face with snow,” Lois protested 
laughingly. 

Someone started to throw snowballs, and 
the slender girlish figures rushed about in 
excitement, hurling snow, singing, and 
laughing gayly. It was a wild, merry night, 
and they frolicked until they were tired. 
The fireworks were reserved until the last, 
and cry after cry arose as the rockets soared 
into the air and shot off showers of sparks 
and flame, and as the red lights cast a mys¬ 
terious glow in the darkness everybody felt 
that an appropriate demonstration of class 
spirit had been shown. 



A BONFIRE 


125 


“ Girls, it must be nearly ten o’clock,” 
Hester Gray cried suddenly as she caught 
sight of the watchman, making one of his 
nightly rounds of the campus. “ Oh, do 
hurry now—every one grab a red light. We 
will use these up, and then make a dash for 
the dormitories. It would be simply awful 
to get locked out.” 

Each took a red light or a sky-rocket and 
they lighted the fuse from the bonfire, which 
was gradually dying. A blaze of light re¬ 
sulted. The girls began to throw snow on 
the embers to smother them before leaving. 

Quite suddenly—no one seemed to know 
how it happened—one end of Jonathan 
Wood’s high board fence burst into flame, 
and lurid tongues of fire ate hungrily into 
the old wood, lapping it up inch by inch. 

Some girls became hysterical at the sight 
of the fire and cried helplessly, or made a 
dash for the dormitories. Others threw snow 
on the flames, and tried to beat them out with 
branches which they broke from the low 
trees. At last, very grimy and smoke- 





126 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


stained, they were forced to give up their 
attempts. 

“ We must go for the fire department,” 
some one cried shrilly. “ Why didn’t we 
think of it before? ” 

Several girls started to run for the town 
while three or four endeavored to keep the 
flames from spreading. 

“ Somebody is coming,” Peggy cried, 
pointing to a tall figure advancing in their 
direction. Those who had bravely stood by 
up to this time ran away, overcome by fright 
and nerves. 

Diana was bewildered and her eyes 
smarted painfully. As she turned, Jonathan 
Wood, grim and towering, grasped her by 
an arm. 

“ Having a bonfire at my expense, are 
you? ” he sneered. 44 This only proves my 
idea to be true. College girls are a parcel of 
educated fools. Full of larks and silliness 
and little else. Sell my land for a college 
dormitory, and have ’em nearer to me than 
they are? Well, I guess not. Emphatically 


127 


A BONFIRE 

not. What’s all this about? ” 

Diana trembled before him. What a 
miserable useless lot this man seemed to 
think they were! 

“ We—we were having a celebration,” she 
stammered. “ I—I guess we carried it a 
little too far. We won a basket-ball game, 
but we never meant to burn your fence. Oh, 
I am so sorry! ” 

“ Sorry don’t help matters,” he remarked. 
“ But I’m not going to complain to the 
faculty. I suppose it was an accident. I 
guess Jonathan Wood has got more heart 
and understanding than folks give him credit 
for. Run along home to bed, little girl, and 
you better look before you leap into fool 
things like this again.” 

“ Mr. Wood,” Diana looked at him won¬ 
der ingly, then she said impulsively, “ I don’t 
believe you are half as bad as you lead peo¬ 
ple to believe.” 

The old man chuckled, and Diana ran 
after her companions, just as the village fire 
department came upon the scene. 


CHAPTER X 


A NOTE 

Jonathan Wood was true to his word. 
He did not refer the matter to the faculty, 
and it is doubtful if they suspected how his 
fence was partly burned. That part of the 
campus was some distance from Faculty 
Row, and the demonstration following the 
freshman victory had apparently passed un¬ 
noticed. 

Two weeks had passed since the memo¬ 
rable event. Mid-year’s was upon the stu¬ 
dents, and they writhed under the fear of 
examinations. Some of the girls were cram¬ 
ming for them, hoping to make good grades 
and thereby bring up their average. 

Diana had received another faculty warn¬ 
ing. This time it was a formal, written 
note. Diana was falling into a queer state. 

She seemed disgusted with herself and with 

128 


A NOTE 


129 


life in general, yet she seemed powerless to 
resist the tide that was drawing her into a 
madly whirling vortex. At times she would 
rally and enter gayly into the pleasures of 
her set; then again she would become nerv¬ 
ous, morbid, and silent. 

The affair of the theme still worried her. 
She imagined that Miss Hickson knew 
what an abominable thing she had done. 

And this was the same Diana, who had set 
out with such high hopes and ambitions. 
The same poor little girl who had lived most 
of her life in an orphan asylum, alone, neg¬ 
lected, and helpless. How the strong, 
rugged rocks of this foundation were crum¬ 
bling! She had abused the only chance she 
ever had. Diana of the happy spirit had 
changed, and she sadly wondered what had 
made the difference. 

She knew! She had simply drifted, with¬ 
out a rudder to guide her safely along. She 
had joined a set that was vastly different 
from her. She had acted as though she had 
heaps of money, and always expected to be 


130 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


cuddled in the lap of luxury. She had 
counted her pleasures—foolish, nonsensical 
pleasures—as the most important thing at 
college. She had waded into the river of 
riotous joy with no sense of what was good 
for her. She had tried to adjust herself sev¬ 
eral times, but still continued to go the same 
rash pace. Then the culmination of all her 
wickedness — the deceptive theme! It 
showed very plainly how one silly, harmless 
thing would lead a person on and entangle 
him in the meshes of a horrible web, if he 
were not always alert and on the watch for 
pitfalls. 

She thought not a little of Madam 
Horton and her wonderful kindness. And 
all she had asked of Diana was for her to 
make good, and how was she repaying that 
generous woman? 

“ Hello, Di, in the dumps again? ” Lois 
came into the room with a smile, and flung 
her skates in the closet. 

“ Oh, no! ” Diana tried to answer cheer¬ 
fully. “ Were there many girls on the ice? ” 




A NOTE 


131 


“ The lake was full of ’em,” Lois an¬ 
swered, and went on to tell of the hockey 
game that had taken place. “ I guess every¬ 
one is letting out pent-up energy because 
the math exam was passed to-day. I think 
I finished it creditably.” 

“ I believe I made at least eighty per 
cent.,” Diana remarked listlessly. “ My 
average for class work is less than fifty.” 
Just then a door banged in the corridor and 
she started nervously, the color leaving her 
cheeks. 

“ Diana Lynn, what is the matter with 
you? ” Lois exclaimed in exasperated tones, 
placing her soft white hands on Diana’s 
shoulders. “ Every time a door opens you 
look up so frightened and funny as 
though you were expecting to see Banquo’s 
ghost, and every time a door slams you 
nearly jump out of your skin. What is it, 
clear? ” 

“ I—feel—queer.” Diana gulped and be¬ 
gan to cry. In a second she was in Lois’s 
arms, sobbing and laughing in turn. 


132 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

Barbara found them thus when she came in 
a few minutes later. 

“ What is this I have blustered upon? ” 
she inquired, her eyes wide with wonder. 
“ Is it a love-feast or a patched-up quarrel? 
I declare I’m surprised.” Barbara dropped 
into a chair, and helped herself from a box of 
chocolates on Lois’s desk. 

“ You are absurdly wrong, Sherlock 
Holmes,” Lois giggled good-naturedly. 
“ Di was feeling queer, and I was petting 
her.” 

“ H’m—likely it’s an attack of grippe. 
Very convenient at mid-year’s, although I 
can’t see how it would do much good, for 
the exams would still have to be made up.” 
Barbara settled herself comfortably and 
smiled wisely. “ How well I remember my 
freshman exams. I assure you I was nearly 
scared stiff. But it is all nonsensical and 
foolish. My dears, if you pass, you pass; 
and if you don’t, you flunk.” 

“ Very encouraging,” Lois grinned, hut 
Diana was staring appealingly at Barbara. 


A NOTE 


133 


“ Do you really think I am coming down 
with grippe? ” she asked in a funny, relieved 
voice. She made several attempts to sneeze, 
and coughed into her handkerchief. 

“ Oh, you poor child, you must be fright¬ 
ened!” Barbara laughed as she devoured 
another chocolate. 

“ I thought perhaps I was having a sort 
of conscience fever,” Diana remarked dryly. 

“ I came to deliver a note.” Barbara 
handed a letter to Diana. “ I had almost 
forgotten my mission. Unless I’m much 
mistaken, the message has something to do 
with the Dramatic Association presidency. 
The envelope bears the monogram of the or¬ 
ganization, and Alice Buckingham asked me 
to give you this.” 

Diana hastily took the envelope and tore 
it open. The note was from Alice, and 
asked her to be present at a meeting of the 
Association. 

The next evening Diana dressed fever¬ 
ishly for the affair, which was to be held in 
Miss Buckingham’s suite. She wore a white 


134 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


charmeuse gown. Her face was very pale, 
and there were dark circles under her eyes. 
However, Babs, Anne, and Lois, who had 
gathered in the room to help her dress, de¬ 
clared she looked “ perfectly angelic.” 

“ Remember, honey, being chosen presi¬ 
dent of college dramatics is a great honor,” 
Barbara cautioned in a squeaky voice and 
with a funny lift to her brows. She was try¬ 
ing to bring the usual smile back to Diana’s 
lips. 

“ Don’t be flippant,” Anne scolded. 
“ Don’t you see that Di is half frightened to 
death? Don’t make her believe that the oc¬ 
casion is so solemn and important that she 
may hardly breathe.” 

“It’s just that I can hardly believe that 
all this honor is to be placed upon me. I 
don’t deserve it,” Diana muttered brokenly. 
“ Truly, there are other girls who are better 
fitted in every way.” 

“ Nonsense,” Lois sputtered. “ Di, I 
really cannot understand you lately. You 
seem to think you are little better than a 


A NOTE 135 

worm. You fret and stew worse than an old 
grandmother. You used to be so jolly and 
sure of yourself. Nothing was too good for 
you. What have you done? Have you com¬ 
mitted a dreadful crime? ” 

It was said in a spirit of raillery, but 
Diana’s face turned grayish-white. 

“ Yes, she murdered the salad at dinner,” 
Barbara, who was arranging Diana’s pink 
sash in place, remarked dryly with her mouth 
full of pins. Every one laughed and the 
tenseness of the moment was broken. 

The door was open, and Connie Bechtol 
stuck her head in at the opening. “ A 
party? ” she smiled, seeing Diana’s festal ar¬ 
ray. “ Gracious, I wish I were always in 
demand like you are.” 

“ Hush,” Anne placed an impressive fin¬ 
ger on her lips. “ Our fair Diana has been 
summoned before the Dramatic Association 
officers. The presidency is to be given to a 
freshman this year.” 

“ Good! ” Connie exclaimed with a wide, 
hearty smile. “ Congratulations, Di.” 


136 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

Catching sight of Connie’s raincoat and 
wet umbrella, Anne cried out shrilly, Is it 
really raining? ” 

“ Like fury,” Connie replied as she went 
on down the hall. 

“ Di, I ’m afraid you’ll have to swim for 
it.” 

Diana looked at her lightly-shod feet. 
“ Call a taxicab, Lois,” she begged. 

At last the trembling freshman was off. 
When she reached the hotel, she had regained 
her poise and charming manner. Alice 
Buckingham’s rooms were full of popular 
girls—sophomores, juniors, and seniors. 

Diana was greeted effusively, and she im¬ 
mediately felt at ease. 

“ Diana,” Alice had risen from her seat on 
a dais, “ as you perhaps know, it is an es¬ 
tablished custom at Briarcliffe for the retir¬ 
ing president of the Dramatic Association to 
appoint a new president from the freshman 
class. Each president holds the office during 
her four years at college. It is a great honor 
for a girl to be chosen for this position by 


A NOTE 


137 


her college-mates. As the presiding presi¬ 
dent passes the half-mile in her senior year, 
she picks out a worthy freshman, and upon 
her shoulders fall the responsibilities of this 
presidential cloak. After due consideration 
and thought, my cabinet has selected you to 
fill this office. It is with all due honor and 
respect that I now bestow upon you the title 
of president of the Dramatic Association.” 

She walked slowly to where Diana stood, 
and solemnly placed a great bouquet of 
white roses in her arms. Then she smilingly 
pinned a tiny white pin, the emblem of the 
club, on Diana’s dress. 

“ Girls, I thank you,” Diana stammered. 
“ This is the proudest moment of my life. I 
am so impressed that I can hardly speak.” 
Diana bowed prettily and soon the girls were 
talking and laughing in friendly little 
groups. A maid appeared with ices and 
cakes, and, after a very pleasant evening, the 
guests departed, informally showering con¬ 
gratulations upon the new president of the 
Association. 


138 DIANA OF BBIAKCLIFFE 


Diana rushed into her room bubbling with 
happiness. Barbara, Anne, Lois, Elsie, and 
Tessie were waiting up for her. Lois had 
brought out some crackers and cheese, and 
they were munching these and laughing and 
talking. 

Diana kicked off her slippers, and 
plumped herself down on the bed beside 
Lois, who sat Turk fashion in the center of 
the soft mattress. “ Oh, crackers and 
crumbs, and crumbs and crackers! I hate 
crumbs in my bed. Lois, why didn’t you eat 
in your own bed? ” 

Lois made a move to take herself hither, 
when Diana, with a contradictory caprice, 
roguishly flung her arms around Lois’s 
neck and held her fast. “ Oh, I am so happy 
—happy—happy!” she shrieked in unre¬ 
strained delight. “ Just smell these roses, 
girls, and after you have all had a smell, will 
some one please fill my tall vase and place 
the roses in it? Behold the honorable presi¬ 
dent of the Briarcliffe Dramatic Associa¬ 
tion ! ” Diana stood in the center of the bed, 




A NOTE 


139 


and the others bowed their homage, making 
mock-solemn speeches. 

“ And now pass the cheese and crackers,” 
Diana commanded as she sat down. “ I’m 
famished. We had ices and cakes, but I 
really haven’t eaten anything for weeks and 
weeks.” 

“ Indeed she hasn’t,” Lois confirmed. 
“ She has nearly worried herself sick over 
these old exams. Thank goodness, there is 
only one more left! That’s Lit, and Diana 
isn’t afraid of it.” 

“ Oh, my dears, I love you all!” Diana 
suddenly gushed in the exuberance of her 
spirits. She hugged Lois with a bearish em¬ 
brace. 

“ Help—help! ” Lois laughed. “ Di, I 
never knew another girl like you. You seem 
to have as many moods as a cat has lives. 
One minute you are on the heights of joy, 
and the next you are in the very depths. I 
don’t understand you.” 

“ I don’t understand myself, honey, so 
why try?” Diana cried with appealing 



140 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


sweetness. “ Let’s just be gay and crazy 
with happiness, for who knows, to-morrow 
the ship may sink! ” 

A bell clanged with sharp, even strokes. 

“ Ten bells—and all is well,” Barbara 
called in cavernous tones. “ Deck-lights out 
in five minutes. Mates, scoot to your 
rooms.” 


CHAPTER XI 


TWELVE O’CLOCK FOR CINDERELLA 

Diana, Lois, Barbara, and Anne were 
splashing about in the huge swimming-pool 
in the basement of the gymnasium. It was 
great fun to swim there in winter, for the 
temperature of the water was warm and 
comfortable. 

“ Di, you look exactly like a frog in that 
green bathing-suit,” Barbara laughed, while 
Diana made a series of frog-like movements 
through the water. 

“ Isn’t this glorious? ” she gurgled. Her 
mind went back for an instant to the un¬ 
sanitary tin bathtubs in the Anthony Flower 
Home. She hardly ever thought of those 
days now. Ever since she had become leader 
of the Dramatic Association, Diana had been 
in the clouds. Apparently she was the gay¬ 
est of the gay. 

It is true, she had studied earnestly to pass 

141 


142 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


the examinations, for, with grades of forty 
and fifty in every-day work, she required 
good marks to bring up her general average 
to a passing standard. She believed she had 
done this, and she made several resolutions 
to make a fresh start after mid-year’s. 
Surely the ever-present rollicking spirits of 
her friends would abate by then, and her en¬ 
gagements would not be so pressing. 

“ Babs, please don’t splash my hair,” 
Anne implored. “ I forgot my bathing-cap, 
and I never can get my hair dried if you 
wet it. There’s the dinner at Tessie Ben¬ 
ner’s to-night, and I wouldn’t miss it for 
worlds.” 

“ Are you going, Di? ” Lois asked as they 
swam two abreast across the tank. 

“ Most assuredly,” Diana replied. “ Tes¬ 
sie has asked me to do my special stunt— 
4 Orphant Annie.’ I am going to give them 
a surprise by dressing the part. Won’t it be 
funny? I have an old blue-checked apron 
in the bottom of my trunk. I brought it 
along because I thought it would be nice to 



TWELVE O’CLOCK 


143 


slip on over my dress when I made fudge or 
rabbit, but I have never used it. I’ll put 
each of my shoes on the wrong foot and leave 
them unbuttoned. I’ll do my hair in two 
pig-tails-” 

“ Oh, Di! ” Lois exclaimed, and then be¬ 
gan to snort and choke, for she had swal¬ 
lowed some water. 

“ Don’t mention it to any one,” Diana re¬ 
quested when Lois had recovered. “ I shall 
leave the things in Judy Alton’s room across 
from Tessie’s. When no one notices, I shall 
slip out and put on the costume. Even 
Tessie doesn’t know it; so don’t breathe a 
word.” 

Just then Dorothy ran down the basement 
stairs and shouted to Diana, “ Get your 
clothes on, Di, and hurry to your room right 
away. Alice Buckingham is there, and she 
looks frosty. She was extremely stately and 
sarcastic as she asked me to please find you. 
I told her that I knew you were in the pool, 
and asked her to come along. But she an¬ 
swered politely and coolly, ‘No, I prefer to 



144 DIANA OF BEIARCLIFFE 


wait in Diana’s room. I wish to speak to 
her privately! ’ You’d better hurry, Di. I 
really believe there is something wrong.” 

Diana shivered in the water. A sickening 
dread swept over her. Had Alice Bucking¬ 
ham found out about the theme she had used 
so deceitfully? She shuddered and her teeth 
chattered, as she swam to the concrete steps 
and emerged from the tank. 

“ Why, Di, you are cold! You shouldn’t 
have stayed in the water so long,” Dorothy 
cried, gazing at Diana’s bluish, pinched face. 

“ Oh, this water is positively hot! ” Bar¬ 
bara called, but the girls decided that they, 
too, would dress, since Diana was going out. 

After a rub-down, Diana put on her 
clothes in frantic haste. She hurried to her 
room, and found Alice Buckingham absently 
gazing out of the window. 

She arose as Diana entered, and came to¬ 
ward her. The freshman’s heart was pound¬ 
ing loudly, and her throat was full of dry, 
hot lumps. The senior smiled, but her man¬ 
ner was reserved and lofty. 


TWELVE O’CLOCK 


145 


“ Diana/’ she began, after her hostess had 
asked her in a. weak voice to sit down, “ my 
mission is a painful one. I am indeed ex¬ 
tremely sorry for you-” 

“ Yes,” Diana gulped miserably, wishing 
that Alice would accuse her and be done with 
it. 

“ Well, the matter in a nut-shell is this. 
The faculty opposes our conferring upon 
you the honor of being president of the 
Dramatic Association.” The older girl was 
no longer cool, but spoke in a warm, sym¬ 
pathetic tone. 

“Oh-h-h!” Diana winced. She waited 
dazedly for the girl to go on. 

“ You see, we submitted your name to the 
faculty as our choice, but they objected most 
strenuously, saying that we must request 
you to resign. They suggested that we se¬ 
lect another president immediately. It is be¬ 
cause of your class records. The faculty 
requires a certain standard before a student 
is allowed to take part in college activities. 
No girl may hold an honor unless she has 



146 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


reached this grade in her studies. I am so 
sorry for you.” 

“ Haven’t I been just idiotically foolish! ” 
Diana exclaimed, with blunt but appealing 
frankness. “ I have frittered away my 
chance at the real, lasting joys of college for 
hours of senseless orgies. I have been mad 
—quite mad. It wasn’t that I didn’t realize 
my folly before. I did—but I just kept 
right along on the same path. Do you think 
I could gather up the jDieces and build 
anew? ” 

“You might, if you are really in earnest 
and if you are not afraid of hard work. It 
seems to me that there is good material in 
you. It is a shame to waste real talent on 
mere fripperies. Of course, a college girl 
needs and expects good times, but there is a 
limit to all things. When it is a question be¬ 
tween pleasures and lessons one should neg¬ 
lect the pleasures rather than the lessons. I 
really am sorry for you, dear. The girls 
wanted you for president—and I have the 
best reports of your character. You are 




TWELVE O’CLOCK 


147 


kind, your personality is magnetic, and you 
are clever. Of course, we had no idea that 
you were not up in your studies. We cannot 
do any good now by crying over it. You 
must brace up, and get on the safe road. I 
have been frank with you, Diana, but I 
rather like you, indeed I do.” 

“ Oh, thank you,” Diana cried. “I do 
appreciate your kindness.” 

“ You will hand in your resignation? ” the 
senior questioned gently. 

“ To-night,” Diana promised. 

She wrote the note, and put it up on the 
bulletin-board as soon as her caller had de¬ 
parted. 

When her friends came to her room they 
found her crying bitterly. They coaxed, 
petted, and cuddled her, and she sobbed out 
the story. The sweet attentions of her 
friends eased the pain somewhat. 

“ I just can’t go to Tessie’s to-night,” she 
wailed when the girls urged her to get ready. 
“ I feel so miserable and blue. What will 
everyone think when it gets out that I was 


148 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


asked to resign from my new office? I was 
so proud of being chosen president of the 
Association.” 

“ Forget it,” Lois suggested carelessly. 
“ Come, honey, be gay and drown your trou¬ 
bles in song.” 

In the end Diana yielded weakly to their 
pleading. 

“ Oh, well,” she exclaimed suddenly while 
her eyes flashed defiantly, “ I’ll go. To¬ 
morrow is Saturday, and I’ll not worry 
about lessons. I’d only mope here alone, 
anyway. But from now on, chums, I am 
going to study. I have got to make good.” 

“Here! here!” Barbara put her arms 
around Diana, and Lois began to do her hair 
while Anne brought out her pink silk dress 
and evening wrap. “ You must not abuse 
yourself like that. You are nervous and 
overwrought.” 

Diana’s companions laughed. Dear old 
Di had threatened to study before, but they 
knew that her resolutions never amounted to 
anything. 


TWELVE O’CLOCK 


149 


“ You’ll see,” she smiled with a smile 
which she tried to make convincing. They 
only shook their heads merrily. 

Diana lingered behind the others when 
they were ready to start for Tessie’s, and 
wrapped her old checked apron, so full of 
memories, in a newspaper. How her stunt 
and grotesque outfit would amuse the girls! 
How little they would guess that her 
travesty was gleaned from a life that she had 
lived and suffered! Yet she could be funny 
over it. Diana had the grace to blush with 
hidden, stifled shame. One year ago her lot 
had seemed the deepest tragedy. 

Tessie’s party was very brilliant. Diana 
was the center of a gay group. Her happy 
witticisms, cleverness, and easy flow of con¬ 
versation made her in constant demand. At 
last Diana found an opportunity to leave the 
room, and was rewarded by flattering ap¬ 
plause when she appeared in queer make-up 
and gave her famous stunt, “ Orphant 
Annie.” 

Just as peal after peal of laughter rang 


150 DIANA OF BKIAKCLIFFE 


out, Anne suddenly looked at the little gilt 
clock on the mantel. 

“ Girls,” she shouted, “ it’s five minutes of 
ten. I had no idea it was so late. Grab 
your things and run—we’ll surely be locked 
out.” 

The girls who lived in the other dormi¬ 
tories rushed out. Diana sped across the 
hall, picked up her pink dress, and flung her 
wrap over the quaint costume she wore. She 
jammed her hat down upon her two pig-tails, 
placing the back toward the front in her 
haste. She was a ridiculous sight, and her 
companions shrieked with mirth as she led 
the procession back to Mead Hall. 

It was as they feared; they had been 
locked out. The rules at Briarcliffe were 
very strict, and all doors were promptly 
bolted at ten o’clock. After a short five min¬ 
utes of consultation, during which the girls 
shivered with cold and fright, Barbara de¬ 
cided to wake Maud Washburn, who slept at 
the back of the dormitory on the ground 
floor. 


TWELVE O’CLOCK 


151 


“ Maud is sensible, and she will not report 
us,” Barbara whispered as they stealthily 
crept to the rear of the building. After 
much low calling and tapping on the win¬ 
dow-pane, a sleepy voice responded. 

“ Maudie, please open your window and 
let us in,” Barbara cried. 

Maud cautiously opened her window, and 
ten trembling forms climbed in. They went 
noiselessly up the stairs, but by the time 
Lois and Diana reached their room they were 
giggling hysterically. 

“ Wasn’t it fun? ” Lois chuckled, fum¬ 
bling for the switch of the electric light. 
“ And wasn’t Tessie’s creamed chicken de¬ 
licious? ” 

Diana was about to answer, but she 
stepped back with a gasp of consternation 
and surprise. As the light surged over the 
room, it disclosed the small figure of Madam 
Horton. She sat erect and accusing in 
Diana’s desk-chair, and her eyes looked hard 
and stern when she saw Diana’s disheveled 
condition. 


152 DIANA OF BRXARCLIFFE 


The girl’s hat was awry, and her pink silk 
dress hung from her arms. Her wrap had 
slipped from one shoulder, revealing the 
short blue-checked apron. 

“No doubt you are surprised, Diana,” 
Madam spoke in sharp, frigid tones. “ I 
had a letter from the faculty, and I came on 
to see you. As you were not in, I waited 
for you. After ten o’clock came, I thought 
I would remain to see what keeps you out 
after hours.” 

“ We were at Tessie’s dinner,” Diana 
stammered. 

“So this is why you cannot get your les¬ 
sons, eh? Larking around every night, I 
suppose? You choose to spend your time 
like that. The letter from the faculty gave 
you a very bad class record. You have neg¬ 
lected your studies for mere madcap larks. 
Do you remember that other girl I 
told you of who wasted her opportunities? 
Well, you are just like her. I absolutely 
refuse to help you any more. You are not 
worth it. I withdraw my support. So you 



AS THE LIGHT SURGED INTO THE ROOM, IT DISCLOSED THE SMALL 

figure of Madam Horton.— Page 151. 
















TWELVE O’CLOCK 153 

may sink or swim, as you like. Good¬ 
night !” 

Madam swept out of the room, angry and 
hurt, while Diana stood like a stone image, 
cold and motionless. She tried to speak, but 
she could not utter a word. It had come at 
last, just what she had unconsciously ex¬ 
pected. 

She must sink or swim! And by her own 
efforts! 

She made up her mind that she would not 
sink. Somehow she would manage to lift 
her head above water and keep it there. She 
must swim alone, but she bravely determined 
that she could and would do it. She must 
succeed, and right the wrong she had done. 

Twelve o’clock had struck for Cinderella 
—the ball dress and everything had melted 
away. 



CHAPTER XII 


THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 

It was strange, but Diana did not sob or 
cry out as she had done so often of late when 
things went wrong. She was quite calm and 
self-possessed the next morning. All her 
childish, hysterical emotion had disappeared. 
She was in a sane, sensible mood. 

She was dressed long before Lois was 
awake. When that young lady finally 
opened her eyes, she regarded Diana quiz¬ 
zically, saying, “ She was rather hard on you, 
Di. Is she your guardian? My, what a 
pepper-pot of an old lady! She even made 
me cringe.” 

“ Lois, please don’t speak of Madam 

Horton in a flippant tone. She has been 

very kind to me, but I have treated her 

shamefully. I only hope it is not too late to 

atone. I deserved every single thing she 

154 


THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 155 

said!” Diana’s voice was Ioav and sad. She 
seemed to be weighing her words carefully. 
She occasionally moistened her lips, for they 
felt dry and hot. 

“ Oh, I wouldn’t bother about it,” Lois 
advised, lazily resting her head on her hand. 

“ But I must bother, and it is high time 
I was starting. Lois, I want to tell you a 
story.” 

Diana began, relating everything from her 
advent into the Anthony Flower Home to 
her rescue by Madam Horton. She told of 
Madam’s unlimited kindness and of her own 
disregard of it. She went into detail about 
the theme. She spared herself nothing. 

“ Now you know why I have been so con¬ 
science-stricken at times. I recognized my 
own duplicity, and I hated myself. To think 
of all the chances I have neglected. I have 
sailed under false colors from the beginning, 
but from now on I shall sail under my own 
flag, and it shall be of purest white.” 

“Diana!” Lois slipped out of bed and 
stood wonderingly before her roommate. 


156 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Do you really mean me to believe that ab¬ 
surd story? ” 

“ It is true,” Diana said simply. “ Only 
God knows how I wish it were not so! ” 

“ Well, I am surprised.” Lois sank back 
on the bed in a dejected heap. 

“ You don’t hate me, Lois? ” Diana cried 
appealingly. 

“ Of course not, Diana. I have liked you 
too well,” Lois said slowly. “ But I really 
cannot realize it. I am completely bowled 
over. I don’t know how the other girls will 
take it. We all thought you belonged to a 
rich old family, but that doesn’t make any 
difference to me. It is different with Babs 
—she is snobbish and proud of her New 
England ancestors. You won’t mind very 
much if she snubs you just at first? No 
doubt when she has thought it over, she will 
come to her senses. As for me, I have loved 
you because you were just Diana, and I shall 
love you always.” 

“ Oh, Lois,” Diana exclaimed thankfully 
as she sat down beside her friend, “ your loy- 


THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 157 


alty helps a lot! I don’t believe I care for 
those who liked me only when they thought 
I had money. I would rather have them 
despise me because I have been such a cheat 
than turn against me on account of my 
poverty.” 

“ Of course, I am not saying that Babs 
will take it like that,” Lois hastened to ex¬ 
plain, “ only she is decidedly snobbish, and 
I wanted to save you the pain of having her 
cut you suddenly. She never liked Natalie 
because she was not our kind.” 

“ Poor Babs! ” Diana sighed. “ Perhaps 
it would be better for all of us if something 
happened to change our viewpoints.” 

“ But what will you do? ” Lois asked. 
“ Madam said she would withdraw her sup¬ 
port.” 

“ I have thought it all out,” Diana replied. 
“ My tuition is paid to the end of the year. 
Madam will not withdraw that, I am sure. 
My board and room rent are settled monthly, 
so I shall have to find another place imme¬ 
diately. I cannot afford to stay here, though 


158 DIANA OF BKIAKCLIFFE 


I shall hate to leave you, Lois. I think I 
shall try to get lodgings at that little cottage 
where Natalie stays, and I shall do my own 
cooking. It’s cheaper. I’ll iron waists, 
black boots, mend stockings—I’ll do any 
kind of honest work. I cannot tutor, for I 
shall have all my past failures to make up. I 
always wanted to write—before I began to 
neglect things—perhaps I can earn some¬ 
thing that way. I shall put aside every cent 
I can, and I mean to repay dear Madam 
Horton for all the money she has spent on 
me. I shall finish my freshman year some¬ 
how. During vacation I shall go to a sum¬ 
mer resort, and wait on table at a hotel. I 
want to get enough money to come back 
next year. Now, that I nearly lost college, I 
realize how very important it is and how I 
need it. An untrained, homeless girl has 
very little chance in the world. I don’t see 
what I could have been thinking of to let 
such exceptional opportunities slip by. One 
must not drift but paddle carefully, or he is 
sure to be wrecked. My experience proves 




THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 159 


it. Lois, it is a great comfort to know that 
you really care for me—I do feel so little 
and mean.” 

“ I just can’t bear to think of your doing 
such slavey work,” Lois shuddered. 
“ Please stay with me. I will lend you the 
money.” 

“ No, dear,” Diana said firmly. “ This 
luxurious life isn’t good for me. I haven’t 
sufficient stability to know how to keep my 
place. But thank you, dearest. You can 
help by sending me your blouses to iron.” 

“ Oh, I couldn’t! ” Lois cried. 

“ That is the only thing you can do,” 
Diana insisted. 

Eager to be of assistance, gentle-hearted 
Lois promised that all her own waists and 
her friends’ as well should be laundered by 
Diana. 

“ One blouse each for six days in the week 
for twenty girls—that would be one hundred 
and twenty blouses. Oh, Di, how awful!” 
Lois was counting on her fingers, but she 
gave up in despair. 


160 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Diana smiled. “ Lois, I think I am happy 
—really happy—for the first time since I 
came to Briarcliffe. I know I have often 
cried out in happiness, but I think that was 
the delirious joy of an emotional, over¬ 
wrought girl. My happiness to-day is more 
real and lasting. It is contentment. I feel 
suddenly free of a great burden, for I have 
thrown aside all deceit and pretence, and am 
starting with a clean page. My heart is 
soaring like the birds, and I am no longer 
afraid. If the girls come, you may tell them 
the entire story. I am going to Miss Hick¬ 
son to explain about the theme. I mean to 
be absolutely square.” 

Miss Hickson was at home when Diana 
called. The girl did not tremble now, for 
she had resolved to face her disgrace, make 
it as far right as she could, and live it down. 

“ Won’t you be seated, Diana? ” Miss 
Hickson invited cordially. 

“ Miss Hickson, do you remember that 
theme I placed under your door after you 
had cautioned me to have it in by nine o’clock 



THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 1G1 

or be excluded from basket-ball?” Diana 
asked humble and penitent. 

“ Yes, I recall it,” answered Miss Hick¬ 
son. “ It was a very good story.” 

“ Well,” Diana went straight to the point, 
“ the composition was not mine. Alice 
Buckingham gave it to me when I asked if 
I might take it home and read it. You may 
remember that I did not sign my name, or 
lay any claim to the manuscript. I merely 
took for granted that you would suppose it 
was mine, v That does not excuse my deceit¬ 
ful act. I mean to work and play fair from 
now on. I intend to show Briarcliffe College 
that I can and will be a good student.” 

“ Diana, I am shocked,” Miss Hickson ex¬ 
claimed, and added, as she looked into the 
girl’s miserable eyes, “ I am sorry for you.” 

“ Thank you,” Diana murmured grate¬ 
fully. “ Miss Hickson, do you think there 
is a chance for me? Do you think I have 
offended the faculty too seriously? ” 

“ Diana,” Miss Hickson’s voice was very 
tender, and she gently laid her hand on the 


162 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


girl’s shoulder. “ It would be a poor old 
world if Jesus’s promise of forgiveness were 
not held out to repentant sinners. If one 
sinned and stood forever condemned, this 
would be a hopeless kind of place. But 
there is hope. He said, 4 Repent ye ’ but He 
also admonished, 4 Go, and sin no more.’ I 
can only repeat those words. They contain 
the greatest encouragement I know. Diana, 
I wish you success. I have always thought 
you were too good to lose. Your literary 
work is really remarkable. You should try 
your hand at short stories, for you have 
talent and originality. I shall be glad to 
help you all I can.” 

> 44 You are more than kind,” Diana mur¬ 
mured seriously. 

44 Don’t forget what I said about writing,” 
Miss Hickson advised as Diana was ready to 
go. 44 You have unusual understanding of 
your characters. The work you have done 
in class is very real. I believe you actually 
feel and live with the people of your imagi¬ 
nation.” 


THE TRUTH ABOUT A THEME 163 

“ Oh, I do—I do! ” Diana cried eagerly. 
“ Very often I think out plots in my mind 
that I haven’t time to put on paper, and once 
I actually caught myself sobbing with a girl 
in the story. They are all human to me.” 

Miss Hickson nodded her head encourag¬ 
ingly. “ Don’t give up. Come to see me 
sometimes. Good wishes and good luck, 
dear.” 

Diana ran down the narrow campus path 
feeling wonderfully light-hearted. 

When she reached her room, she found a 
group of girls there. Diana was not em¬ 
barrassed, but the others were. However, 
this feeling soon wore off, and the girls 
pledged their friendship and support. 
Diana was very matter-of-fact, and smiled 
and talked as though nothing had happened. 
When her friends rose to leave they kissed 
her warmly, for she had told them that she 
would probably leave Mead Hall the next 
day. 

Barbara, however, offered no demonstra¬ 
tion of affection, but held out her hand 



164 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


coolly, and murmured in a studied manner, 
“ I wish you much success in your—er—new 
business, Diana.” 

“ Babs, that was unkind,” Lois cried out, 
but Barbara was already half-way down the 
hall. 

“ Never mind,” Diana smiled wistfully. 
“ It sometimes takes the turn of the tide to 
show who one’s friends really are.” 


i 


CHAPTER XIII 


BACK TO POTS AND PANS 

Diana knocked at Mrs. Turner’s humble 
cottage. “ Is Natalie at home? ” she asked 
when the door was opened. 

“ Yes, ’m, I think she just came in,” Mrs. 
Turner beamed with her good-natured Irish 
smile. “ Come right in, Miss. You can 
find her room at the end of this hall.” 

“ Thank you,” Diana said kindly. She 
followed directions, and was soon welcomed 
with delight by Natalie. 

Diana repeated her tale, and told her 
schemes. The other girl could hardly believe 
her ears. She sat breathless and speechless. 

“ Now, you see, Natalie,” Diana spoke 

forcefully, “ I just have to get up and 

stand on my own feet. The first thing to 

do is to find a suitable room. I have thirty 

dollars left from my last quarter’s allowance, 

165 


166 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


and I mean to buy some cheap furniture with 
that.” 

“ It seems to me that Madam Horton is 
a little to blame,” Natalie said rebelliously*. 
“ She should not have decked you out, and 
set you in the midst of a frivolous set. It 
wasn’t fair—no girl could resist the tempta¬ 
tion.” 

“Yes, a good common-sense girl could,” 
Diana maintained, “ and please, Natalie, 
don’t say a word against Madam Horton. 
She did everything through the kindness of 
her loving heart. She knew that girls adore 
pretty things, and it gave her pleasure to in¬ 
dulge me. You see, I had never had nice 
things before, and they went to my head. 
Sometimes I think Madam was trying me 
out—anyway, I should have had enough 
character to resist temptation. I was an 
easy victim; it was all my fault. Now, 
Natalie, do you think we could persuade 
Mrs. Turner to let me have a room? ” 

“ Diana! ” the girl exclaimed delightedly. 
“ Do you mean that you would like to live 



BACK TO POTS AND PANS 167 

in the house with me? How I’d love that! 
Mrs. Turner has a large empty room in the 
south gable. Perhaps she’d let you have 
that. She uses it for a storeroom. There is 
a large closet adjoining, which would make 
the sweetest little kitchenette.” 

“ Let’s ask her right away,” Diana sug¬ 
gested eagerly, pulling Natalie after her. 

Diana and Natalie found Mrs. Turner in 
the kitchen, and put their request to her in 
incoherent, broken sentences, which one 
would begin and the other would finish. 

“Bless me!” Mrs. Turner smiled in a 
motherly way when she at last understood 
what they wanted. “ You’d like to rent my 
gable-room, would you? Well, dearie, there 
isn’t a speck of furniture in it, and I don’t 
calcTate to buy any.” 

“ But I would furnish it myself,” Diana 
offered. 

“ Oh! ” Mrs. Turner ejaculated. “ Well, 
I dunno now but what I might be persuaded. 
I’m a lone widow, and I guess a little more 
change a month wouldn’t come amiss. Let 


168 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


me see, I’d say the room ought to be worth 
four dollars a month. I’ve got some things 
stored in it, but I could move ’em up to the 
attic. I get six and a half for Natalie’s little 
room, but I furnished that from odds and 
ends I had. I dare say I might find a few 
things for the gable-room, too. Come along, 
and I’ll let you look at it.” 

The girls followed her up the narrow, old- 
fashioned stairs. As she threw open the 
door of the south room, the two girls stepped 
inside. It was a large, pleasant place with 
quaint dormer-windows, which admitted 
plenty of light and air. The paper was 
faded, but dainty with its faint trellises of 
pink rosebuds. 

Mrs. Turner called their attention to the 
wide fireplace. There was a brownish space 
around the chimnejr. 

“ The roof leaked there,” she explained. 
“ I had it fixed last week, so the ceiling won’t 
get any worse; and I think I’ve got some 
scraps of this rosebud paper up attic. We 
can patch over the bad spots.” 


BACK TO POTS AND PANS 169 


“ This will do nicely,” Diana assured her, 
and she visualized the room transformed by 
her personal touches. 

“ I am afraid you will not be satisfied 
here,” Natalie lamented. “ Your quarters 
at Mead Hall were so luxurious in compari¬ 
son.” 

“ Don’t you worry about me, honey,” 
Diana laughed. “ I’ll be like a happy little 
wren in a nest of her own making. I 
almost feel that I ‘ belong ’ here right now. 
Mrs. Turner, I’ll take the room.” 

“ All right, dearie,” the good woman’s 
face shone. “ I will have it all cleaned up 
and ready for you by Monday.” 

Diana paid her rent in advance, and a 
feeling of pride and satisfying joy surged 
over her. She felt very steady and capable. 

“ Come, Natalie,” she said. “ Let’s go 
down to your room, and plan the furnish- 

• >5 

mgs. 

When they reached Natalie’s abode, 
Diana took a seat in a shabby little rocker 
while Natalie sat near by on a plumply 


170 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


stuffed footstool. Diana's eyes were dreamy 
and far away, but they had a look of perfect 
content. 

“ The old Diana has come back,” she 
mused. “ She has been gone a long time, 
but she has come back.” 

“ I think I am going to love this Diana 
ever and ever so much,” Natalie remarked. 
“ I was always so sorry when you wouldn't 
study and Miss Henderson criticised you so 
severely.” 

Diana smiled. “ I have a great surprise 
in store for Miss Henderson. I mean to 
have my history lesson perfect Monday. 
She will hardly believe her ears, and I 
wonder what she will think when I know the 
assignment every day? No more * not pre¬ 
pared ’ answers for me. Natalie, dear, may 
I come and stay all night with you? I must 
studv, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to con- 
centrate at the hall. Lois is sure to have the 
room full of girls.” 

“ Oh, I’d be awfully glad to have you! ” 
Natalie cried. 


BACK TO POTS AND PANS 171 


“ Now about the room,” Diana began. 
“ I mean to make an attractive place of it. 
First I shall paint the floor and the wood¬ 
work a soft gray. I cannot afford to 
purchase a large rug, but I may be able to 
buy some rag mats at a second-hand shop. 
I shall dye these old-rose, and they will look 
artistic scattered over the gray floor.” 

“ Why, I never would have thought of 
that!” Natalie exclaimed. “Perhaps you 
can give me some ideas about fixing up my 
room too. I know one can do better work 
if the surroundings are pretty—I have 
always believed that.” 

“ If I can get some chairs,” Diana went 
on, wholly preoccupied with her own plans, 
“ I will paint them gray, and upholster them 
in gray and pink cretonne.” 

“How lovely!” Natalie enthused. “I 
like cretonne.” 

“ I shall have dainty cretonne curtains, 
and that nook in the dormer will be an ex¬ 
cellent place for a window-seat. Oh, Nat¬ 
alie, can’t you see it? I shall make a box 


172 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


with a lid, and then I can keep things inside. 
I will cover the seat with gray cretonne. I 
would like to buy a folding cot, so that I 
could have both a sleeping and living room in 
one, you know. Lois gave me a lovely 
Navajo blanket for Christmas. I can throw 
that over the couch-bed and it will make a 
handsome disguise. Oh, Natalie, I am all 
excited and eager to begin. Get on your 
things, and come with me to the second¬ 
hand stores.” 

It was fun to poke around in the dusty 
shops, hoping to unearth something wonder¬ 
ful.. They saw possibilities in everything. 
Diana found four rag rugs. They were 
dirty and homely, but she knew that a wash- 
tub and a boiler of rose dye would change 
them completely. Besides, they only cost 
her a dollar, and she tingled with the joy of 
the bargain-hunter. 

They purchased a chest of drawers that 
Diana knew would yield beautifully to gray 
paint, two rockers, several straight chairs, 
and two upholstered chairs, from which the 


BACK TO POTS AND PANS 173 


covering was torn and the stuffing pro¬ 
truded, but Diana saw not their present dis¬ 
graceful state; she thought only of the alter¬ 
ations she intended to make. 

She bought a hot-plate, pans, dishes, cook¬ 
ing utensils, and a gas iron. A working girl 
must have proper tools, she decided. While 
Diana was bickering over a battered library- 
table, Natalie was looking around the rear of 
the store. “ Di,” she called suddenly, “ here 
is a perfect duck of a desk. It is so old- 
fashioned and queer. If you are going to 
write, you will need one.” 

Diana hastened to examine the piece of 
furniture, and immediately made up her 
mind to take it. She knew the desk must 
have been a beauty in its time, but now the 
old walnut was stained and dull. 

“ It’s a shame to cover up that wood,” 
Diana fretted, “ but I shall have to paint it 
gray to match the rest of my things.” 

“ I can just see it,” Natalie rhapsodized. 
“ All satiny gray with a big bunch of pink 
roses on it.” 


174 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ And now about the table—I’ll take that, 
too,” Diana told the dealer. 

She turned to Natalie as the man pre¬ 
ceded them down the narrow aisle. “ You 
see, Natalie, Lean use that table as a dining- 
table at meal-times, and during the rest of 
the day and night it will make a perfectly 
respectable library-table under a cover of 
linen and a heap of books. I will do my 
own cooking on the hot-plate in the kitchen¬ 
ette. Natalie, I have come to believe that 
every change God makes in our lives is for 
the best. He sees farther than we do, and 
I know this is going to be good for me. Now 
I am happy and contented, before I had only 
a kind of wild joyousness mingled with fits 
of regret and spasms of conscience. Often 
my heart ached, and I hardly knew why. 
But it is not going to any more. I have the 
comfortable feeling that comes when one is 
doing right. I haven’t anything to hide or 
worry over now. Only I am sorry, so sorry 
because I hurt dear Madam Horton and 
destroyed her faith in me. I threw away a 


BACK TO POTS AND PANS 175 


sweet, wonderful gift which, Natalie, I 
would give anything to have back. Some 
day I hope I may make it all up to her.” 

They left the cluttered-up place, and the 
proprietor promised to deliver the things 
that evening. 

Diana had her trunks sent over from the 
Hall in the afternoon, for she had been 
asked to spend Sunday with Natalie. 

“ Then we can get up early Monday 
morning and start painting the floor of your 
room. We have no classes until nine-thirty, 
and two can accomplish quite a lot in three 
or four hours,” Natalie had remarked, and 
Diana accepted the invitation gratefully. 

Natalie was such a dear person, Diana 
thought. She did not scold, coax, pamper, 
or cuddle; she was merely a true friend, lady¬ 
like, modest, and sweet. 

“ I am afraid these dresses aren’t suitable 
for a poor girl,” Diana said as she unpacked 
her dainty frocks. “ But I guess I shall have 
to wear them, for I cannot afford to buy 
others. Somehow, I am afraid I shall feel 


176 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


as though I were still masquerading when I 
put them on. 

“ I know,” she cried suddenly. “ I’ll 
divide with you, for there are heaps more 
than I can ever use, especially since I have 
given up being a social butterfly. We can 
pretend that we are two fairy princesses in 
exile.” 

“ Oh, Di, you dear thing,” Natalie ex¬ 
claimed joyously. 

66 It is such fun to imagine things,” Diana 
told her. “ I used to pretend things when 
I was in the Home, and it helped to brighten 
many hard, disagreeable tasks. Dear 
princess, will you hand me my math? I 
have twenty problems to solve and only two 
hours until bedtime.” 

Natalie laughingly handed the book to 
Diana, and the girl dropped into a com¬ 
fortable heap on the hearth rug and was 
soon lost in a maze of trapezoids and par¬ 
allelograms. 


CHAPTER XIV 


DIANA GIVES A PARTY 

“ O-oh-o-oh-o-oh ! ” a tremulous femi¬ 
nine voice floated up the stairs that led to 
Diana’s room. 

“ Yes? ” came from above. “ That you, 
Natalie? ” 

“ U-huh, it’s me. Can I come up? ” 

“ You may come up, but you must not 
stay over a half-hour,” Diana cautioned mis¬ 
chievously as she ironed an immaculate 
blouse with slow, even strokes. 

In a second Natalie bobbed in at the door, 
and curled up comfortably on the softly- 
padded window-seat. 

“ I have three more waists to iron and we 
can talk while I’m doing them,” Diana pro¬ 
posed. “ After that I shall study for two 
whole hours. We have two tests to-morrow. 

I met Alice Buckingham on the campus this 

177 


178 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


morning, and she asked me if I allowed 
visitors in my new haunt. I told her 4 most 
assuredly I do,’ and I added that I hadn’t 
hibernated entirely. She said she met Anne 
and Lois going down College Street yester¬ 
day. They had been to call on me, but see¬ 
ing my ‘ Engaged ’ sign out, they fled. I 
could not have been in when they were here, 
for I never heard them. I went to the 
grocery store about five o’clock, and forgot 
to take in my notice. Perhaps they came 
then.” 

“ Barbara hasn’t been here, has she? ” 
Natalie asked innocently. “ I heard her 
talking to Tessie Benner and Elsie Freeman, 
and she said she was perfectly horrified to 
find that you-” Natalie stopped in em¬ 

barrassment, and blushed painfully. She 
shouldn’t have repeated that, but it came out 
before she thought. Diana’s ready smile re¬ 
assured her. 

“ Oh, Babs!” Diana laughed in good- 
humor. “ Babs cannot forget that her 
mother was one of the Granleys of Boston, 



DIANA GIVES A PARTY 179 

and that her father made millions in shoes. 
She will get over that one of these days. I 
don’t mind, because I really believe that I 
am happier and more fortunate than dear old 
Babs. But I was telling you about Alice. 
Just to show her that I wasn’t a perfectly 
terrible, grumpy bear, I asked her to a little 
spread in my room to-night. I don’t want 
the girls to think that I have developed into 
a greasy grind who can’t be sociable. I have 
learned to mix my daily menu in sane pro¬ 
portions now. Work, study, and play, al¬ 
though at first I shall take my good times in 
teaspoonfuls. I used to take them in quarts, 
you know. Natalie, will you come to my 
party? ” 

“ I’ll be delighted,” Natalie responded 
gladly. “ Shall I bring up my blue-bor¬ 
dered plates and the family silver? ” 

“ If you please,” Diana grinned with a 
glance at her own cracked and time-worn 
plates. 

4 ‘ Any one else coming besides Alice Buck¬ 
ingham? ” Natalie inquired. 


180 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ You see, it is a kind of impromptu 
affair,” Diana replied thoughtfully. “ Born 
on the spur of the moment, as it were. I 
am expecting Lois before supper with 
another bundle of waists. I shall ask Lois, 
and Anne, and Dorothy, and—yes, I think 
I’ll send word to Babs too. Perhaps she 
won’t come, but she can’t say I slighted her.” 

“ Diana,” Natalie spoke after a short 
pause, “ I heard something to-day that I 
know will please you. That was what really 
brought me to your room, but our con¬ 
versation started before I could spring my 
news.” 

“ Well, dear, hurry up and tell it.” 
Diana hung the finished waist on the back of 
a chair, and began to unroll a fresh garment. 

“ It is about the last story you wrote.” 
Natalie’s face was full of pleasure, and she 
watched Diana’s eyes, knowing that she 
would see a glad look leap into them. “ Miss 
Hickson read it to the faculty and they 
think your talent is quite unusual. Maizee 
Bridgewell, editor of our Briarcliffe Oh - 



DIANA GIVES A PARTY 


181 


server, is forced to leave college because 
something is the matter with her eyes. She 
has handed in her resignation to the Ob¬ 
server board, and Miss Hickson has recom¬ 
mended you to fill the vacancy. Now isn’t 
that perfectly splendid—for you, I mean— 
not for Maizee? The faculty and the Board 
will have a meeting to-night, and the de¬ 
cision will be made public to-morrow. Now 
isn’t that fine! ” 

“ Oh, Natalie! ” Diana cried. “ Are you 
sure? It sounds almost too good. It does 
seem as though I am really living down my 
old reputation, doesn’t it? ” 

“ Yes, and it is quite true,” the other girl 
returned. “ Jean De Favro told me, and 
Jean is business manager of the Observer ” 
“ So many nice things are offered to me,” 
Diana mused. “ But I have learned my 
lesson, and I mean to cherish everything 
good that comes.” 

A gentle tap sounded at the door. 

“ You open it, Natalie,” Diana requested 
as she continued ironing. 



1S2 DIANA OF BRIAKCLIFFE 


It was Lois, who came in like a cool, puffy 
gust of wind. 

“ Oh, this fire feels comfortable! ” she ex¬ 
claimed, running quickly to the fireplace 
and holding out her tingling fingers to the 
hot blaze. “ What a dear room, Di! ” 

“ I like it,” Diana said proudly, as she 
took up the last damp garment and began 
to press it. “ You’ll forgive me, Lois, for 
going right on with my work? ” She looked 
beseechingly at her friend. “ Sit down, 
won’t you, please? ” 

Lois threw back her furs, and placed the 
bundle on a chair. Then she sank down on 
the fluffy rug in front of the fire, like a 
pretty little kitten. 

“ I decided that I would bring the waists 
myself,” Lois said vehemently. “ You have 
enough to do without running back and forth 
with them. Besides ”—she ended with a re¬ 
proachful glance at Diana—“ I thought 
you’d surely let me in if I brought these.” 

Diana laughed. “ I think,” she said, 
“ that you must have always come when I 



DIANA GIVES A PARTY 


183 


was out. I wouldn’t have refused to let you 
in.” 

“ I just thought you didn’t care for callers 
when you are studying; so I never made 
much noise when I came. They say you 
are an awful grind now. We miss you 
dreadfully up at the Hall. You were such 
fun, Di. I simply loved your queer moods. 
Beastly bore—this studying,” Lois an¬ 
nounced disgustedly. 44 1 have had two 
warnings this month, and I barely passed 
my exams at mid-year’s. But, do you know, 
Di, I really believe your methods are half 
right. A girl could save a lot of worry and 
fuss if she would devote some time each day 
to lessons. When I first came to Briarcliffe, 
I didn’t care much if I did flunk, as I 
thought I’d rather be sent home. I have 
changed my mind about that, however, for 
I have grown to love it here. I just could 
not bear to leave the girls. I do want to 
come back next year, so I guess I will follow 
in Di’s footsteps and show ’em that I am not 
entirely a hopeless numskull.” 



184 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Bravo, Lois! ” Diana cried encourag¬ 
ingly, “ that sounds real sensible. At least 
one has peace if she can make a creditable 
showing in classes, and good work brings 
self-satisfaction, which is pleasing. It is 
really worth the trouble. Just think, Lois, 
what if your father suddenly lost his money 
and you were sent out into the world to earn 
your living? I faced it, and I know what a 
blank wall a lonely girl is up against. But 
a trained mind can always command a posi¬ 
tion and a salary.” 

“ It is true,” Lois acknowledged. “ I 
hadn’t thought of it in that light. I’ll leave 
at once, and get that lesson in Latin prose. 
I hate it, but here goes.” 

“ Do wait until Di tells you about the 
party,” Natalie laughed at Lois’s sudden 
burst of determination. 

Lois waited until Diana had delivered her 
verbal invitation, and then made a hasty de¬ 
parture. 

Natalie, also, went to her domain, and 
Diana was alone with her studies. Here it 


DIANA GIVES A PAKTY 


185 


was no trouble to concentrate, and soon her 
mind was full of Latin verbs and history 
dates. 

Her guests arrived at seven, and Diana 
enjoyed playing hostess again, after her 
long sacrifice to duty. It had taken her 
some time to bring up her standing, but she 
was now on a firm and fair footing where 
she found bits of leisure for sensible 
pleasures. 

Barbara did not appear. She pleaded a 
previous engagement, but Diana knew she 
did not care to come. However, she did not 
feel hurt. If Barbara chose to snub her, 
that was Barbara’s business. 

The girls admired and praised her cozy 
quarters, and when she told them how very 
little she had spent they were amazed. They 
laughed gayly at hearing Natalie tell how 
disreputable some of the old pieces looked 
before Diana transformed them. 

They talked about basket-ball and hockey, 
and then Anne proposed a coasting party 
on the slope back of Fawn Lake. Alice 


186 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


thought it would be nice to have a bon¬ 
fire and toast marshmallows after sledding, 
but the girls decided that the hill was too 
near Jonathan Wood’s fence. It was too 
risky, and another fire might prove more 
serious. Diana had hastily sent word to two 
lonely freshmen when she decided to have 
her spread (for Diana was growing more 
considerate of others in her new life), and 
one of them spoke up, “ We’ll be glad to 
have you come to our room afterward. 
Mother sends us a box of food from the farm 
every week, and we will have her send some 
for the party. I’ll write and ask her to put 
in plenty of fried chicken—Mother’s fried 
chickens are delicious.” 

“ Oh, that will be just the thing. We can 
thaw out so much better in a warm room,” 
Natalie burst out. 

The little freshmen’s eyes were glowing. 

Diana went into the kitchenette, and pres¬ 
ently returned with eight long pointed 
sticks on which she set the girls making 
toast before the fireplace. She stirred a 


DIANA GIVES A PARTY 


187 


rabbit in the chafing-dish, and when the 
toast was done she poured the sauce over it, 
and placed pickles and olives on the table 
beside a huge bowl of potato salad and a 
dish of baked beans. Diana gave her guests 
plates, forks, and spoons, and invited them 
to help themselves. It was so delightfully 
informal that the girls exclaimed over 
Diana’s originality. It was absolutely dif¬ 
ferent from the parties at Mead Hall, but 
every one seemed to be enjoying herself. 
For the second course Diana served hot 
waffles and maple syrup. It surely was an 
“ out of the ordinary ” college feast. 

“ It must have been a lot of work for you 
to prepare these good things,” Lois re¬ 
marked. 

“ Dear me, I wish I could have a place to 
cook things like these,” Alice Buckingham 
sighed. 44 1 adore home-made potato salad, 
and I get so tired of hotel fare.” 

Suddenly Diana’s face brightened. 44 1 
have an idea,” she shouted, nearly upsetting 
the dish of olives in her eagerness. 44 1 love 


188 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


to cook—do you suppose that if I made 
dishes like these the girls would buy them 
for their parties? I read about a person 
who made sandwiches to pay her way 
through college—why wouldn’t it be profit¬ 
able to make salads, desserts, and fancy 
eats? ” 

“ It would,” Anne said. “ Every one 
would go crazy over it. We have feeds in 
our rooms every night,—and goodness 
knows we are tired of fudge. A college 
delicatessen, eh, Diana? Well, I approve, 
and I advise you to do it. I can assure you 
of the support of at least twenty. The news 
will spread like wild-fire, and the others will 
buy because everybody else is doing it.” 

“ Cater to orders,” Lois suggested. 
“ Then you will not have waste material on 
hand.” 

“ It will he much easier than ironing 
waists,” Diana said. “ I believe I will try 
it. I will put up a notice on the bulletin- 
board to-morrow.” 

Natalie lingered after the others had left, 




DIANA GIVES A PARTY 


189 


to help Diana put her room to rights. Diana 
was radiant, and full of all kinds of new 
plans as she bade Natalie good-night. 

Then she sat down at her desk and began 
to write. For over a month now it had been 
her custom to write five hundred words every 
night before she retired. She worked 
rapidly, and it took her less than an hour. 
Diana was a very busy little person these 
days, for she longed to reimburse Madam 
Horton for her unhappy investment. 

Diana was writing a story for children. 
In it she put the things she knew, incidents 
of the Anthony Flower Home for Orphans. 
The tale was full of laughs and tears. 

Diana felt that other boys and girls would 
enjoy reading about the queer doings of the 
orphans. She smiled as she recalled and 
wrote about Tommy Albert’s placing the 
toad in the crossest trustee’s coat pocket. 


CHAPTER XV 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 

Tile next day Diana was kept busy re¬ 
ceiving congratulations, for it was an¬ 
nounced that she had been recommended and 
elected editor of the Briarcliffe Observer. 

Diana was filled with satisfaction and 
delight, as she fully appreciated the stanch 
support of the faculty. She remembered 
with shame how she had been asked to resign 
from office. No fear of that now, for Diana 
had proved to the faculty that she was 
worthy. 

At last she ran away from the group of 
laughing, flattering girls. 

“ Dear little room,” she said tenderly as 
she hung her coat behind the closet door and 
gave a tender pat to the old carved desk. 
“ It always feels so comfy and homelike here 
that I think I will christen you the ‘ Oriole’s 
Nest.’ ” 


190 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 


191 


She liked the notion, and, acting upon 
impulse, searched in her desk and found a 
bottle of gold paint and a long slender brush. 
She stood on a chair, and painted “ The 
Oriole’s Nest ” above the door. Then she 
sat down to admire her handiwork. 

“ That looks like the mottoes that one 
reads about in old-fashioned houses.” 

She went into the kitchenette to find her 
coverall apron, and was soon enveloped in its 
protecting folds. 

“ Let me see, Marjie Wales wants potato 
salad, sandwiches, and cheese-balls for a 
party of six. I do love to mix up things— 
and it is so much easier than ironing, which 
is monotonous and dull. To-morrow Alice 
wants twelve verses for a set of dinner 
cards. That will be easy—I like to make 
jingles.” 

Diana began to peel the potatoes that she 
had boiled in their jackets. She kept may¬ 
onnaise on hand for rush orders, and the 
dressing only needed to be thinned with 
cream. In a little while Diana finished her 


192 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

work, and a plate of thin sandwiches, a bowl 
of creamy salad, and a platter of golden 
cheese balls arranged on lettuce leaves stood 
waiting to be called for. 

“ I’ll soon be quite rich,” Diana beamed. 
“ If I can only sell my book—which reminds 
me, I believe I will write a chapter now, for 
I shall be too sleepy when I return from the 
skating party to-night. To-morrow is Sat¬ 
urday, and I will reserve the evening for 
study. What a busy, busy body I am! 
When one has a lot to do, she hasn’t time to 
think of troubles or worries.” 

She sat down at her desk, and began to 
search through her book of notes. 

“ Chapter eighteen,” she mused. “ My, 
but I am getting on! I think about six 
more will complete it. Let me see, I had 
just finished about Tommy and the toad.” 

She took from the drawer a pile of paper, 
and placed it before her. As she leaned 
over she saw a bit of faint pink paper pro¬ 
truding from one side of the drawer. She 
tried to pull the paper out, but it seemed to 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 193 

be stuck between the frame of the desk and 
the outside of the drawer. 

Diana removed the drawer from its 
groove, and the paper, very crumpled and 
torn, was drawn out with it. The paper had 
an appearance of age, and smelled faintly, 
oh, so very faintly, of lavender. It made 
Diana think of a rose-vined cottage with a 
sweet flower-like girl in its garden. It 
seemed to breathe an essence of romance, 
perhaps long dead. Diana held the paper in 
her hand, while her imagination floated on a 
fleecy cloud. Then she looked down and 
saw that there was writing, a faint blue 
tracing, on the tinted note-paper. She read: 

Roselea Terrace, June 16,1891. 
My Beloved: 

In my heart I do call you my beloved, 
yet I chafe at the thought that you could 
have let mere obstinacy separate us. Per¬ 
haps I was wrong, Jonathan, but to you I 
will never really admit it. Still you had no 
right to infer that I encouraged Tom Ains- 
lee. He did not come to see me that memo¬ 
rable night. He had some kind of engage- 


194 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


ment with my brother, yet when you passed 
the terrace and saw him standing beside me 
at the window you flew into a temper and 
accused me of inconstancy. Oh, Jonathan, 
how could you ? 

After your mean accusation, I could not, 
would not, come to you. If you do not come 
to me, we will drift—drift always apart. 
You could not trust me—that breaks my 
heart, for I do love you, Jonathan—I shall 
always love you. I dread to think of the 
weary, weary years ahead, for I shall al¬ 
ways go on loving you. 

What a rambling, incoherent letter this 
is, but it is only the blood of my heart pour¬ 
ing itself out on paper. You will never see 
this note, for I shall hide it safely in my desk 
along with many, many others. Good-night, 
loved one. I shall always hope that you may 
yet come to me. 

Your 

Cynthia. 


Diana heaved a long, tremulous sigh. 
What poor, broken-hearted woman had writ¬ 
ten that? Who was Cynthia, and who was 
Jonathan? Were they still waiting? Her 
imagination began to weave a romantic web. 



AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 


195 


Hearing Natalie’s steps on the stairs, she 
slipped cautiously to the door, and opened it 
solemnly. 

“ Why, Di, what is the matter? ” Natalie 
asked in surprise. “ Your eyes are posi¬ 
tively gleaming, and you look as though you 
had discovered a buried treasure.” 

“ I have,” Diana said reverently, “ some¬ 
body’s buried treasure. Read that, Natalie. 
I found it in my desk. It was ’way behind 
the drawer, and has probably been there for 
years.” 

She handed the missive to Natalie, and 
the girl’s eyes had a sympathetic expression 
as she read it. 

“ How sad and beautiful! ” she whispered. 

“ Do you know, dear, I wonder if that 
Jonathan in the letter is Jonathan Wood? 
Tessie said he had grown bitter over disap¬ 
pointment in love. Let’s ask Mrs. Turner 
—perhaps she will know the story. It must 
have been all of twenty-five years ago.” 

“ Will you let her read the letter? ” Nata¬ 
lie inquired, leading the way. 



196 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

“ Oh, no! ” Diana replied. “ It would be 
cruel to make an exhibition of it. Such love 
is sacred.” 

Mrs. Turner called a hearty “ Come in ” 
in answer to their knock. She was making 
cookies, spicy ginger ones, and her hands 
and arms were covered with flour. 

“ Have chairs,” she invited cordially. 
“ I’m up to my elbows in dough; so I’ll go 
right on with my baking.” 

“Yes, don’t let us interrupt your work, 
Mrs. Turner,” Diana said gayly as she 
seated herself in the roomy kitchen rocker. 
“We don’t want to bother you. We came 
to ask you if you knew Mr. Jonathan 
Wood.” 

“ Well, I guess I do,” she chuckled. 
“ He’s the sourest person out o’ pickle brine. 
Selfish, mean, self-centered, if ever a man 
was. ’Course I don’t like to talk about my 
fellow townspeople, but anybody else will 
tell you the same thing. And all because of 
a girl.” 

Mrs. Turner rolled out her dough, and 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 


197 


began to cut into it energetically with a 
cooky-cutter. She spat out the last sentence 
in disgust. 

“ Oh, tell us about it,” Natalie begged, 
settling comfortably on the wide arm of 
Diana’s chair. 

“ I guess it was all of twenty-five years 
ago,” Mrs. Turner began reminiscently. 
She was delightfully garrulous, and she en¬ 
joyed digging up stories from the past. 
“Yes, it was all of that—I remember, be¬ 
cause it was about that time that Alf Hen- 
nesy and Tilda Thornton got married. 
Jonathan Wood was dead in love with Cyn¬ 
thia Statler. He worshipped the ground she 
walked on. And jealous—why, if she 
walked to the post-office and back and that 
man heard of it, he would rush to her house 
and ask how long she’d been gone and who 
she talked to on the way. Suddenly the af¬ 
fair was broke off. No one knew why, but 
Cynthia and Jonathan were never seen to¬ 
gether again. She moped in her cottage for 
four years, then her folks died and she sold 




198 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


off her things and went to Europe. Jona¬ 
than just holed up in his house and stayed 
there, crosser’n an old bear with a sore head. 
That’s what comes of senseless stubbornness. 
Whatever caused their trouble, Cynthia 
won’t go half-way nor Jonathan won’t go 
half-way. I suppose they’ll just pout it out 
to the end of their days.” 

“ What a sad story! ” Diana murmured. 
“ It always makes me sorry to hear of wasted 
lives.” 

They heard a sound in the hall. “ That 
must be Marjie after her eats.” Diana 
jumped up quickly. “ I’ll go up, Natalie, 
and you can visit with Mrs. Turner a little 
while longer if you like.” 

“ Here, dearie,” the kind old lady smiled 
as she put a pile of plump, brown cookies in 
Diana’s hands. “ Take these along for your 
supper.” 

Diana thanked her gratefully, and ran up¬ 
stairs. 

At seven o’clock Diana and Natalie put 
on their warmest coats, knit caps, and mit- 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 


199 


tens, and with their skates jangling merrily 
over their arms, they made their way to 
Fawn Lake. It was early March, but the 
month was cold. The February ice was still 
thick and smooth. 

Hockey was popular this year, and the 
teams monopolized the ice in the afternoons. 
Those who desired to skate for pleasure and 
exercise went down to the lake in the even¬ 
ings. The girls hired the village boys to 
carry huge piles of driftwood, placing them 
at intervals around the shore of the lake. 
When lighted, these fires cast a cheerful light 
on the scene. Then the moon would come 
out, and flood the lake with its silver glory. 

“ This air is wonderfully invigorating. It 
fills one with hopes and ambitions,” Diana 
said as she walked along the path that led 
to the lake. It was necessary to cross a little 
rustic bridge that spanned a deep, narrow 
creek which flowed into the large body of 
water. As the two girls stepped on the 
bridge, Diana gave a cry of dismay. “ Oh, 
Natalie! ” she exclaimed in horrified tones. 


200 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

Natalie looked and saw a girl skating to¬ 
ward them. 

“ Go back, go back, this ice isn’t safe,” 
Natalie screamed, but the approaching 
figure apparently did not hear. She did not 
take any notice whatever. She seemed to be 
entirely engrossed with her own thoughts, 
and did not realize that there was any dan¬ 
ger. 

“ O dear, what shall we do?” Diana 
wailed in distress. “ She cannot hear our 
warnings, because the other skaters are yell¬ 
ing and singing and it drowns the sound 
from up here. Why, it’s Babs! ” 

It was indeed Barbara Diehl, and she 
skated on, while the girls made frantic ef¬ 
forts to attract her attention. 

“ I wonder if she doesn’t know that the ice 
on Fawn Creek doesn’t freeze solid!” 
Diana said, as she began climbing over the 
railing of the bridge. 

“ What are you going to do, Diana 
Lynn? ” Natalie shrieked. “ Oh, Di, you’ll 
fall.” 


AN OLD L0VE-LETTE1 


201 


“ I won’t,” Diana declared with determi¬ 
nation. “ Babs doesn’t hear a thing. If she 
would only look up, we could make her un¬ 
derstand by motions. When she comes to 
the bridge—we can only hope and pray that 
the ice will hold until she gets here—then 
she will see me and I’ll help her climb to 
safety.” 

Diana clung like a young monkey to the 
supports of the wooden bridge. The ab¬ 
sorbed girl came nearer. Just as she ar¬ 
rived at the bridge, Diana’s voice reached 
her and she glanced up startled. At the 
same time the ice cracked under her feet, and 
she went into the icy water. The frightened 
girl clung frantically to a piece of ice which 
was already beginning to give way. 

Diana took a stronger hold on the beam, 
and lowered her feet into the abyss below. 
They dangled in the cold water, and she 
could feel it seeping into her shoes. 

“ Babs,” she spoke in encouraging tones. 
“ Clasp my feet in your hands, and draw 
yourself up along my body. Don’t worry; I 




202 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


won’t let go. Cling—there you are—you 
are making it—you are half-way up—you’ve 
made it! ” 

Diana’s last words ended in a sob. When 
Barbara gained the top of the bridge, she 
and Natalie knelt in the snow and drew the 
exhausted girl up beside them. 

“ Diana—Di—oh, Di, my dear, dear 
friend,” repeated Barbara, the tears running 
down her cheeks. She flung her dripping 
arms around Diana’s neck, and clutched her 
with all her grateful strength. “ Can you 
ever forgive me, and will you let me call you 
friend? ” 

“ Hush, dear, it’s all right,” Diana 
soothed with a wan smile. “ Come, we must 
get you home and into a warm bed. Then a 
cup of hot tea, and you will be none the 
worse for your ducking.” 

“ May I call to see you to-morrow? ” 
Barbara entreated earnestly. 

“ Yes, Babs, if you are able,” Diana 
gladly consented. 

The next morning Diana received an 


AN OLD LOVE-LETTER 


203 


enormous bouquet of American Beauty 
roses. In the heart of the largest flower 
lay Barbara’s card and across the blank side 
was written, “ With Babs’s love and eternal 
friendship.” 

“What a wonderful old world this is!” 
Diana sighed blissfully. “ And doesn’t 
everything turn out just grand? ” 


CHAPTER XVI 



ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 

March spent its lion-like fury, and April 
came and went like a soft fleecy cloud, to 
the accompaniment of bubbling brooks sing¬ 
ing with regained freedom, and the warbling 
of birds musically proclaiming their joy to 
the world. Then May fluttered into the 
world on a balmy breeze soaked in flower 
perfumes. All Briarcliffe rejoiced. 

Diana—happy, competent, and success¬ 
ful—sang, worked, and played like one of 
nature’s creatures. She loved the outdoors, 
and she enjoyed nothing better than the long 
tramps in the woods which she and Natalie 
always took on pleasant Saturday after¬ 
noons. Sometimes they joined rollicking 
crowds, but Diana liked best those hours 
which she and Natalie spent alone, when 
they talked of the glorious future which 

awaited just beyond. 

204 




ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 205 


“ Can you play this afternoon?” Natalie 
asked one warm Saturday morning. 

Diana considered her plans for the day. 
44 Why, yes, Natalie. I have finished my 
cleaning, and I’ll make the sandwiches that 
Tessie ordered for her tea right away. Then 
I’ll be at leisure for the day.” 

44 I’ll help you,” Natalie offered, and be¬ 
gan cutting thin slices of bread. 44 Di, let’s 
walk out to the Avondale Road, will you? 
It runs along the river, and a great avenue 
of beech-trees make delightful shade all the 
way to Potter’s Point.” 

44 1 have always wanted to go there,” 
Diana remarked as she whipped the cream 
into the salad-dressing. 44 1 say, Natalie, let’s 
make enough of these sandwiches for our 
own luncheon, and eat it under the beeches. 
If we are not too tired, we can walk to Pot¬ 
ter’s Point and have tea, and come home by 
trolley.” 

44 Capital!” Natalie cried. 44 You do 
think of such lovely things, Diana. Do you 
know, I was just a little gray mouse in a 


206 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


dull, colorless hole before you came. You 
have taught me the real delights and value 
of friendship. I just cannot bear to think of 
parting with you. June seems so very 
near.” 

“ Hush, dear,” Diana held up a warning 
finger. “We are not to think a single sad 
thought to-day. This is to be a happy day.” 

“You are right,” her companion smiled. 
“ It does seem absurd to spoil present pleas¬ 
ures by borrowing troubles from the future. 
We will both be back next September.” 

“ I sincerely hope so,” Diana declared 
fervently, spreading the slices of bread with 
dressing, while Natalie placed the slices to¬ 
gether and cut them in fancy shapes. “ I 
have made more than enough to pay my 
living expenses. I am hoping to win the 
Arnold Scholarship this year, but, of course, 
one can never tell. Miss Hickson thinks I 
may be successful. I spent a great deal of 
time on my essay, for everything depends on 
getting the prize. However, if I shouldn’t 
obtain it, there is the Alumni Aid Fund to 


ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 207 


fall back upon, but I prefer not to borrow 
if possible. I finished my book last week, 
and sent it to a publisher; but oh, Natalie, 
I hardly dare hope for results in that quar¬ 
ter. It seems almost presumptuous to think 
my humble efforts would be good enough to 
print. One never knows until one tries, and 
I shall not be disappointed if the manuscript 
is rejected. No, I shall just try again, and 
again, and again. I will not be downed any 
more. I have made up my mind to keep 
rising higher and higher.” 

“ Bravo! ” Natalie shouted with enthusi¬ 
asm. “ You will succeed, for if a person 
wants and wants something and tries with 
all his might to attain it, he is sure to get it.” 

Diana gave a pleasant, hearty laugh. 

“ Run along, honey,” she said, “ and fetch 
Mrs. Turner’s market-basket. We will have 
a lunch that is fit for kings. Do you think 
eight sandwiches will be enough? ” 

“ Plenty,” Natalie called as she departed 
on her errand. 

The girls gathered great bunches of vio- 


208 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


lets and buttercups which grew on the banks 
of the river where it wound along the tree- 
arched Avondale Road. When the sun was 
directly overhead, they sat down on the grass 
and enjoyed their luncheon. 

“ Doesn’t the outdoors make you feel as 
though you were in a vast silent cathedral ? 55 
Natalie suggested when they stopped to rest 
by the roadside late in the afternoon. They 
had given up the idea of going over to Pot¬ 
ter’s Point for tea, because it was more fun 
to walk slowly, and stop to rest in attractive 
spots. They crossed the river at Beechwood 
Bridge, and started for home on the opposite 
side of the river. 

Diana looked up; the sky did remind one 
of the soft paintings on the dome of a cathe¬ 
dral. 

“ The cathedral is getting dark.” Diana 
shivered suddenly as a cutting blast of wind 
swept through the trees, and the sun hid be¬ 
hind a smoky mountain of clouds. “ Nat¬ 
alie, look at those dense clouds coming up 
over yonder. How fast they fly! ” 


ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 209 

“ It is going to rain,” Natalie announced 
quickly, and they walked faster. 

Presently the skies were parted by a zig¬ 
zag streak of lightning, and an echoing peal 
of thunder followed. 

“ I am afraid of lightning.” Natalie 
shuddered and clutched Diana’s hand. “ I 
don’t like to be among trees in a storm. 
Hurry, Di, I can see a house a short distance 
down the road. We can seek shelter there.” 

“ It may be an ogre’s castle,” Diana gig¬ 
gled. 

The girls started to run and reached the 
front porch of the cottage just as the first 
drops of rain fell, and a fresh burst of angry 
fire cleaved the skies. 

It took them some time to gain their 
breath, but Natalie exclaimed, when she was 
able to speak, “ Isn’t this just the dearest 
place you ever saw? ” 

Diana agreed that it was. 

The' cottage was covered with shingles, 
and abounded in quaint dormers and unex¬ 
pected nooks. Queer little casement win- 


210 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

| 

dows peeked out of the sides, and long pink 
ramblers twined around them, making artis¬ 
tic frames. The wide porch was supported 
by white pillars, and pink ramblers hugged 
and caressed the columns with loving ten¬ 
drils, then broke away and scampered play¬ 
fully over the roof. The smooth velvety 
lawn was terraced to the road, breaking the 
long even slope. 

“No ogre’s castle this,” Natalie teased. 
“ This is the home of the sleeping princess.” 

“ I shouldn’t wonder,” Diana mused 
dreamily. 

“ I wonder if she’ll mind if we stand on 
her veranda,” Natalie remarked, looking 
mischievously at Diana. “ She surely would 

not want us to stand out in the rain and be 

/ 

drenched.” 

The girls were startled by the white door 
suddenly swinging inward. 

A most unusual woman stood in the door¬ 
way. Although her hair was white, her face 
was that of a maiden in her first youth. She 
was like an ivory miniature of the daintiest 


ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTEB 211 

pink and white. Her eyes, blue as the sum¬ 
mer skies, looked as though the April sun 
had kissed them after a shower. She held 
up the skirt of her pink-flowered dress in a 
thin, tiny hand. 

“ She was just like an October dryad, 
come back to sip of the sweetness of spring,” 
Diana later told Natalie. 

Just then they stared in speechless ad¬ 
miration. 

“ Won’t you come in? ” the little lady in¬ 
vited with an old-fashioned courtesy. “ You 
were caught in the storm? ” 

“Yes, it overtook us while we were out 
for a walk, and your porch seemed the near¬ 
est shelter,” Diana replied, smiling sweetly. 
“ We are two girls from Briarcliffe.” 

“ Please come inside—the wind sweeps a 
mist on the veranda,” the Dresden china 
lady stood aside as the girls entered. 

She led them through a large, cool hall, 
furnished in wicker furniture covered with 
chintz to a sitting-room, full of cozy chairs, 
low window-seats, and bookcases, and 



212 


DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


begged her guests to be seated and wait 
comfortably until the storm had passed. 

They talked of Briarcliffe, its life and 
activities, and the little Dresden lady’s eyes 
sparkled with interest. 

“ I am so glad it rained to-day,” she de¬ 
clared defiantly. “ I get so lonely here, as I 
have few friends. They have all gone away 
—some into the great beyond. I love young 
people, and won’t you please promise to 
come again? ” 

44 We shall be glad to,” Diana said 
fervently. 

44 Stay to tea, my dears. I’d love to have 
you—oh, say you will! ” 

Diana looked at Natalie, and Natalie 
looked at Diana. They would like nothing 
better. It would be such a happy ending to 
their happy day. 

44 Just pretend that the years have rolled 
back for me. Make believe that I am young 
again. You—you can’t think how I have 
longed for that. You must call me Cynthia, 
just as if we were real college chums, for I 



ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 213 

was a Briarcliffe girl once. And I shall call 
you-” 

“ I am Diana Lynn and this is Natalie— 
Natalie Blake,” Diana finished. 

At once they became good friends and 
laughed and talked as though they had al¬ 
ways known each other. 

What a dear, impetuous person Cynthia 
was! The girls had never known any one like 
her—she shed her cloak of years so quickly 
and gracefully that she seemed, indeed, just 
a confiding girlish chum. 

Diana had a sudden suspicion. Could this 
be Jonathan Wood’s Cynthia—the Cynthia 
of the pink love-letter? It must be she. 

“ You can stay all night,” Miss Cynthia 
insisted, loath to let her new friends depart. 
“ In the morning we will attend the church 
at the crossroads. Oh, please stay. I have 
not had such exquisite pleasure for years. 
Then I would love to have you see Roselea 
Terrace after a rain—everything gleams and 
sparkles, and the damp perfume of the roses 
is so fascinating.” She looked wistful and 





214 DIANA OF BEIARCLIFFE 


lonesome, almost like a child begging a play¬ 
mate to stay longer. 

As she mentioned Roselea Terrace, Diana 
was convinced that her supposition was cor¬ 
rect. This was Miss Cynthia Statler. 

“We should enjoy staying all night,” 
Diana said as she thought of a long, pleasant 
evening with this queer little lady. “ But 
we mustn’t. We will come back again some 
Saturday afternoon if you will let us.” 

She had a vision of Monday’s lesson, 
which she had promised herself to prepare 
that night. Then, too, she knew that it was 
unconventional to impose upon the hospi¬ 
tality of a stranger, be that stranger ever so 
charming and persistent. 

When the maid had served tea, she in¬ 
quired affectionately, “ Is there anything 
else that I can do for you, Miss Statler? ” 
Diana’s and Natalie’s eyes met, and both 
girls thrilled at being on the scene of the 
old-time romance. 

After the dishes were cleared away, Miss 
Cynthia grew reminiscent. 


ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTER 215 

“ I have been so lonesome here,’’ she said. 
“ A long time ago a great sorrow came into 
my life. I sold all my belongings and went 
to Italy. I wanted to forget by leaving my 
misery behind me. A year ago my home 
called me, and I came back. I refurnished 
the house, and settled down to live my de¬ 
clining years in the place I loved best. But 
nothing seems the same now—all that was 
dear to me was disposed of, and I just can¬ 
not get used to the new things. It is sad to 

be a solitary old woman-” 

Then Diana began to blush and stammer, 
“ Miss Cynthia—I found a letter which I 
believe belongs to you. I discovered it in an 
old desk that I bought in a second-hand 

shop. I—have felt so sorry for you-” 

Miss Cynthia’s tears fell, unrestrained, on 
the frill around her neck. 

“ You see before you a heart-broken 
wreck,” she said slowly. “ It is quite true, 
because of a stubborn whim, I let happiness 
slip through my fingers. I should have told 
Jonathan that his suspicions were unjust 




216 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


and unfounded—I should have explained— 
yet, womanlike, I resented his jealousy. 
But I have paid.” 

“ Why don’t you tell him that you are 
sorry now? ” Natalie asked sympathetically. 

“ Because I am a coward. There—I was 
foolish to cry—what must you think of me? ” 
Miss Statler smiled. “ I have had no one ^ 
confide in for years and years, and it just 
spilled out. I am sorry to have spoiled our 
afternoon, but it is dreadful to bottle up all 
the sorrow of lost hopes and dreams and 
joys.” 

Natalie leaned forward. “ Do you mean 
that you wish that you had sent Jonathan 
Wood that sheaf of letters that you wrote 
and hid away in your desk? ” she asked 
breathlessly. 

“ I do—I do,” Miss Cynthia asserted. 
“ I don’t care who knows it now. But I do 
wish I had given Jonathan Wood those 
notes. They would have explained for me 
—how my heart was aching—and all would 
have been well.” 






ALL ABOUT THE LOVE-LETTEK 217 

“ But tell us,” Diana implored, “ how did 
the one letter happen to stick in the desk? ” 

“ When I decided to leave Roselea Ter¬ 
race,” their hostess began, “ I took the let¬ 
ters out of the desk and burned them, be¬ 
lieving, indeed, that my life had turned to 
ashes. Then I sold the desk with the other 
things. One letter must have lodged back 
of the drawer, and evidently I did not see 
it.” 

Diana was seized with an idea. Here was 
material for a story from real life. Her 
imaginative brain surged with plots and 
scenes. How nice it would be to weave the 
romantic web and make it end happily for 
every one! Life was just a wonderful story 
after all. 

Presently the storm ceased and the world 
was beautiful after its bath. The girls 
walked back to Briarcliffe through the 
glistening twilight. 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 

The girls did not forget their promise to 
pay Miss Cynthia a visit. Indeed, they 
looked forward to Saturday afternoon when 
Diana’s duties would spare her. 

Diana was rummaging in her trunk, sort¬ 
ing over old belongings and making room 
for the things that would soon have to be 
packed away. Natalie was watching her 
from the window-seat. 

Diana took out her red sweater, and held 
it in her arms. It felt warm and friendly. 
Ah, those delightful tramps in the glow of 
Autumn’s waning sun when she was 
wrapped in that comfy sweater! Would the 
next year bring a wealth of treasure to 
Diana or would it bring only barren mem¬ 
ories like Miss Cynthia’s? 

She closed her hand convulsively over a 

fold of the heavy sweater. Then she uttered 

218 


SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 219 

a startled exclamation for she met with an 
unyielding touch. Diana’s hand invaded the 
pocket. Ah, the little black book! She 
pulled it out, and glanced hurriedly through 
the yellowed mold-stained pages. 

“ Look here, Nat—something interesting. 
I had entirely forgotten it.” 

Natalie left her seat and leaned over 
Diana’s shoulders. “ What is it, a diary? ” 

“ Perhaps. We’ll examine it. I found it 
in the ruins of an old church last fall.” 

Natalie’s eyes sparkled. “ You found it 
in the ruins of an old church? How inter¬ 
esting! I adore ancient things.” 

“ I found it under the floor. The church 
had been struck by lightning years ago, and 
a part of it was burned. I was poking about 
under the charred floor boards, and I dis¬ 
covered this book. I also picked up some 
old bullets and an aged musket.” 

“Di! Really?” 

“ Yes. I think the place must have been 
used as a fort, and that firearms were stored 
under the floor.” 


220 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ What did you do with the things you 
found? ” Natalie asked curiously. 

Diana was smoothing out a corner of the 
book. She looked up quickly. 

“ Nothing/’ she answered. “ We—you 
see—Tessie fell off a pile of bricks and hurt 
her ankle; so we hurried away as fast as we 
could. Some one suggested that the walls 
might topple over at any minute. We for¬ 
got about our find. Unless some one else has 
been exploring the ruins, the things are 
probably still there, buried under the bricks 
and mortar that Tessie sent crumbling 
down.” 

“Diana Lynn!” exclaimed Natalie. 
“ Perhaps you came near unearthing a hid¬ 
den treasure, yet you carelessly came away 
without your loot. Never have given it a 
thought from that day to this, I’ll warrant. 
I am surprised at you.” 

“ Hidden treasure? ” scoffed Diana. 
“Nat, you funny old pirate, what are you 
hinting at? A few antique muskets and a 
handful of bullets. Treasures indeed! ” 



SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 221 


“ If they are really very ancient—of Rev¬ 
olutionary origin—they ought to have a cer¬ 
tain value to collectors, historical societies, 
or keepers of museums—whoever buy relics. 
If you had prospected further, you might 
have discovered a gun that one of Wash¬ 
ington’s soldiers carried—or something. 
Really, Di—I can’t understand how your 
imagination failed you in this crisis.” 

Diana replied jokingly, “ Tessie’s acci¬ 
dent knocked me sensible.” 

44 One of Washington’s coat buttons re¬ 
cently sold for five thousand dollars! 
Where was your business instinct? ” 

Diana became serious. 

4 4 Natalie, do you really believe there 
might be a hidden treasure in those old 
rums { 

Natalie nodded her head solemnly. 
44 Look in the book and see. Stranger things 
than that have happened.” 

Diana thumbed the pages. 44 It is a diary, 
possibly kept by the clerk,” she said, hastily 
reading some extracts. 44 The notes were 





222 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


evidently written hurriedly, and some of 
them seem to be only half-finished. Prob¬ 
ably just memoranda to refresh his mem¬ 
ory before posting the records.” 

“ Oh, what is that? ” questioned Natalie 
eagerly, as she placed her hand on her 
friend’s fingers to stay them. “ How very 
queer. I wonder what it means? ” 

“ It looks like a puzzle,” Diana ventured. 
“ Or a geometry problem. Triangles, 
lines, letters, and figures. If the point at A 

equals the point at B 2-” 

“ Nonsense. It is a plan. The letters 
mark certain points of interest, perhaps. I 
do believe it is a drawing of the inside of the 
building. We thought the church was one 
of those used as a fort in the dangerous days. 
It was especially well built. The walls were 
exceptionally thick and solid. See—this 
must be the cupola, and perhaps these 
straight lines marked the location of the 
pews.” 

“ Perhaps,” agreed Natalie. 

“ But why,” pondered Diana, wrinkling 




SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 223 


her forehead in her effort to solve the mys¬ 
tery, “ should the plans of the church be in 
this book? They are here for some good 
reason.” 

“ Of course,” remarked Natalie seriously. 
They were both sitting on the floor now, 
the contents of the trunk forgotten. Their 
attention was centered on the musty 
page. 

“ The owner had a poor memory so he was 
in the habit of jotting down notes. State¬ 
ment proved.” 

“ There are no dates to these entries. I 
wonder how far back they are. Of course, 
the book may have been hidden away at a 
later date than we judge. Our speculations 
may be all wrong. Some one may have 
dropped it when the floor was being re¬ 
paired.” 

“ Oh, don’t spoil the picture,” Natalie en¬ 
treated. “ And there were the muskets, you 
know. I think this is really a Revolutionary 
treasure, or at least a remnant of the Indian 
war. Old enough to be historical, at least. 


224 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Di, I am doing my best to endow the things 
with glamor.” 

“See how curiously the letters are 
formed.” 

“ Letters of a past age,” Natalie an¬ 
nounced breathlessly. “ Turn another 
page.” 

Diana did so. “ This is another copy of 
the plan. More attention is given to detail. 
Look! There is an extra drawing below. 
It looks like two rooms and a long passage. 
Natalie, don’t laugh! I truly believe this 
church had an underground room, two of 
them—and a secret passage. I’m so ex¬ 
cited!” 

“ Di, you are improving rapidly. Now if 
you only had not left those muskets behind 
when you scurried away, I might see hope 
for you. Do you know of any curio dealers 
hereabouts? ” 

Diana looked on the next sheet. There 
was a big blot of mold across it, where the 
dampness had penetrated. This sheet was 
near the back cover of the diary, which might 


SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 22 5 


have rested on the ground. Only a little 
here and there was distinguishable. Diana 
read the disconnected words aloud with diffi¬ 
culty. The writing, what there was left of 
it, was very faint. 

44 English advancing—hidden—fort—se¬ 
cret chamber—Last Supper—trustees—or¬ 
ders—safe—time—lost ” 

No matter how hard she tried, she could 
decipher nothing more definite on the 
blurred page. 

44 That sounds interesting. I wonder 
what it means. Could it be a secret code? ” 
Natalie took the book and endeavored to 
rub away the discoloration, but bits of the 
frail paper came with it. It was no use. 
The message in its entirety was forever lost, 
buried under the mold of a century or more. 

There were a few more excerpts, telling 
of an attack on the church which the little 
colonist army had weathered, of the aban¬ 
donment of services, and of the turning of 
the place into a place of refuge for the 
women and children. Then the memo- 




226 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


randa ceased, and there were several blank 
pages, disfigured with spots of mold. 

“ Oh, I wonder what happened! ” mused 
Diana. She held the book in her hand, and 
gazed intently at the last empty sheet. 

“ I wonder, too,” murmured Natalie. “ It 
looks as if the writer failed to finish his 
diary. Di, he may have been killed while 
aiding his comrades to defend the church.” 

“ Possibly,” Diana responded thought¬ 
fully. She turned back to the mysteriously 
marked page, and began to trace the words. 
“ Secret Chamber—Last Supper,” she re¬ 
flected. “ Doesn’t it sound intriguing? If 
we only knew what it meant.” 

“ How does your imagination interpret 
it? ” queried Natalie. 

Diana rested her chin in her palms, and 
squeezed her brows together fiercely. 

“ ‘ The Last Supper 9 is a famous paint¬ 
ing, a masterpiece, and therefore a treasure. 
The churchman was advised by the trustees 
to secrete it when the troops were planning 
to charge. It is as clear as anything. These 


SECRET OF THE BLACK BOOK 227 

letters and lines form an intricate puzzle 
but I believe it can be unravelled. The solu¬ 
tion will undoubtedly reveal the secret cham¬ 
ber.” 

“ Under the ruins! ” cried Natalie, jump¬ 
ing to her feet and thrusting Diana’s things 
into the trunk. “ The hole under the floor. 
It all links up perfectly. Very clearly rea¬ 
soned, Sherlock, my friend.” 

Diana laughed at Natalie’s energetic ac¬ 
tion. 

Natalie flung the last garment into the 
trunk, and closed the lid. Then she sat 
down upon it defiantly. 

“No more tidying to-day. We are going 
exploring. We seek hidden treasures. It is 
a beautiful day! ” 

“ But you don’t really think the treasure 
will still be there—after all these years?” 
Diana hesitated, unable to believe that the 
whole affair was anything but a wild flight 
of imaginative reasoning. 

“ It might be,” answered Natalie. “ If, as 
we suspect, the churchman and his compan- 



228 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

ions were killed and the diary lost, no one 
would ever know where the treasure was con¬ 
cealed. Oh, Di, aren’t you enthused? I am. 
Let’s go immediately. We can take the 
trolley to the village, and hunt around the 
ruins until sunset.” 

“ And cook a steak over hot coals,” sug¬ 
gested Diana. How she loved to do that! 
Unless something turned up to relieve her 
financial situation, there might be no more 
jolly times for Diana. Suppose she should 
be obliged to go into the world, untutored, 
to earn her living? 

“ If you like.” Natalie’s gay words ban¬ 
ished gloomy forebodings. 

“ Personally,” declared Natalie, “ I ? m so 
excited that I don’t care if we never eat. The 
most important thing is to find the treasure.” 

“ If there is one,” added Diana, doubt¬ 
fully. 

“ There must be,” insisted Natalie. 

Just as they were about to go down-stairs 
Diana stopped. 

“Natalie Blake! We almost forgot our 


SECKET OF THE BLACK BOOK 229 

manners. Truly the treasure lure has us in 
its power. We agreed to visit Miss Cynthia 
to-day.” 

“ Oh, so we did,” wailed Natalie. “ Any 
other time I’d adore going out to the gray 
cottage. O dear, what shall we do? I am 
crazy to explore the old ruins and I— 
I-” 

“We promised, you know. She is alone 
and unhappy. I cannot bear to give her a 
bit of grief. She will be disappointed if we 
do not come.” Diana’s conscience was urg¬ 
ing her to do what she knew was right. She 
wanted to obey her inner promptings, for 
she had learned that it was the best way. 

“ I know,” fretted Natalie. 

Diana’s face brightened. 

“ We’ll do both. It is early. We need 
not stay long at Miss Cynthia’s, although the 
place is so fascinating and Miss Cynthia is 
so dear, we shall hate to leave. The trolley 
runs near the cottage. We can take a car 
from there.” 

“ Perhaps Miss Cynthia will go with us,” 



230 DIANA OF BKIARCLIFFE 


Natalie proposed, thankful for Diana’s sug¬ 
gestion, as she too hated to give pain if it 
could be avoided. 

“ That would be fun. You know she acts 
just like a starved woman hungry for her 
girlhood. I am sure she would heartily en¬ 
joy our adventure.” 

They started down the stairs. 

“ Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to really 
find a hidden treasure and to find a way to 
patch up Miss Cynthia’s broken love-affair, 
all in one day? ” 

Natalie glanced out of the hall window. 
“ The sun is shining. God is in His heaven. 
Who can tell what may happen on such a 
glorious day? I’d not be surprised at any¬ 
thing, Diana Lynn—at anything at all! 
Come, let’s hurry along, lest I expire with 
expectation.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE LOST PAINTING 

They found Miss Cynthia in her garden, 
puttering among the flowers. The sun fell 
across her hair and shoulders like a golden 
mantle, making her a more radiant vision 
than ever. The hollyhocks lifted their col¬ 
ored bells and rustled their leaves as if to 
express their pleasure as she passed by on 
her way to the purple-faced pansies. A lit¬ 
tle weed army had invaded the pansy bed 
over night, and Miss Cynthia was quick to 
go to the rescue. 

“ An old-fashioned garden has the same 
mystical charm as ancient ruins,” whispered 
Diana, as they approached. “ I adore old 
gardens with larkspurs and canterbury- 
bells.” 

“ And the haunting aroma of clove- 

pinks,” added Natalie. “ I’ll wager there 

231 


232 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 

are all kinds of treasures in Miss Cynthia’s 
garden. 1 ’ 

“ And memories,” nodded Diana, think¬ 
ing of the romance. 

They opened the gate in the hedge, and at 
the sound of their footsteps on the gravel 
path the pretty little lady of the garden 
looked up with a smile. 

“ Oh, my dears, I am so glad you are here! 
The day has seemed an age. It always does 
when one is anticipating a pleasure.” 

Both girls took Miss Cynthia’s extended 
hands. They were glad they had kept their 
word. She looked so frail and dainty as if 
she might easily be hurt. 

They strolled along the mossy, ivy-bor¬ 
dered walks while Miss Cynthia proudly exv 
hibited her flowers. There was a slip of 
mignonette that Lafayette had plucked for 
her great-grandmother and a luxuriant box- 
tree that Washington had sent from his own 
estate, to grace the garden of his very dear 
friend, Cynthia’s great-grandfather. 

Diana bent over the bed of clove-pinks. 


THE LOST PAINTING 233 

all sweet and spicy with sun-warmed fra¬ 
grance. 

“ I love ’em—just love ’em,” she cried in 
her vigorous way. “ I could just gather 
them all in and bury my nose in them for¬ 
ever. All my life I have yearned for flow¬ 
ers, heaps and heaps. It is hard to keep one’s 
hands behind one when one is let loose in 
such a beautiful garden.” 

“ My dear, pick all you like,” urged Miss 
Cynthia, understandingly. 

“ Not now,” said Diana, “ but some other 
time, if you dare to repeat the invitation.” 
Her eyes hinted how she would enjoy the 
opportunity of holding her arms full of the 
beloved blossoms. 

“ Miss Cynthia,” began Diana, as they 
walked toward the terrace. “ We have a 
secret to share with you.” 

“ A secret? ” exclaimed their hostess, her 
eyes beaming. 

Diana turned to Natalie, who stood ea¬ 
gerly waiting to disclose the contents of the 
moldy page. “ Possibly Miss Cynthia may 


234 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


know something of the history of the ruined 
church.” 

The little woman looked up quickly. 
“You must refer to the ruins of the pic¬ 
turesque old St. Luke’s Church near the 
river.” 

“ Yes,” answered Diana, excitedly. 
“ Near the foot of the mountain. Oh, can 
you tell us anything about it? ” 

Miss Cynthia considered. “ Nothing 
much, I am afraid, except that it was struck 
by lightning some thirty-odd years ago and 
a portion of it was burned. The walls have 
fallen into sad decay, I fear.” 

“ They have,” admitted Diana. “ I won¬ 
der why the church was never rebuilt. Do 
you know the reason? ” 

“ Because the village spread a mile farther 
up the mountain. The church with a few 
scattered houses was situated in a kind of 
pocket in the foot-hills, which made it ex- 
extremely dangerous during the spring 
freshets. When a store and post-office were 
built, they were placed a mile away, out of 


THE LOST PAINTING 


235 


danger of overflowing mountain streams. 
Gradually the settlers moved to the new set¬ 
tlement, and the deserted houses fell 
in ruins. A new church site was chosen; so 
the partly demolished structure was aban¬ 
doned.” 

“ Was it really used as a fort in colonial 
days? ” inquired Natalie. 

“ I believe so. It was closely entangled 
in the history of our nation. I have heard 
my father say that.” 

Natalie could keep her news no longer. 

“ Oh—and did you ever hear anything 
about a painting—‘ The Last Supper ’—in 
connection with the church? ” 

“ The Lost Painting! ” Miss Cynthia’s 
voice showed her surprise. “ I can’t under¬ 
stand how you ever heard about it.” 

Diana and Natalie waited for Miss 
Cynthia to continue. They were sure she 
had something to reveal, for her eyes were 
shining with mystery. 

“ Tell us,” they entreated. 

“ I heard the story from Father, and he 



236 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


got it from his great-grandfather,” Miss 
Cynthia started, then became conscious that 
her guests were standing while the wicker 
chairs were waiting hospitably on the 
veranda. 

“ Do sit down,” she begged. When they 
were seated, she commenced her interesting 
tale. “ You see, the Statlers have lived here 
for many generations. We hand down leg¬ 
ends and traditions from one generation to 
another, along with the house. The Lost 
Painting? Ah, yes! I loved the story in my 
youth.” 

“ Do tell it to us.” The girls were leaning 
forward in order that they might not miss 
a single word. 

“ The Lost Painting was one of the Last 
Supper.” Miss Cynthia did not notice that 
Diana nudged Natalie at this point. “ It 
was executed by one of the old masters, and 
was presented to the church by a rich Eng¬ 
lish nobleman who was in sympathy with the 
early efforts of his countrynfen to establish 
a religious home in the colonies. The paint- 


THE LOST PAINTING 


237 


ing was hung with ceremony above the altar. 
The picture was highly prized by the little 
band of followers, who recognized it as a 
great treasure. 

“ During the war the painting disap¬ 
peared, and to this day not a trace of it has 
been found.” 

Diana and Natalie glanced at each other 
meaningly. It looked as if Diana’s theory 
might prove correct. 

Miss Cynthia went on. “ The master¬ 
piece would have an enormous money value 
now. In fact, the National Museum of¬ 
fered one thousand dollars for information 
leading to the recovery of the picture thirty 
or more years ago.” 

“ I wonder if the reward is still in force,” 
said Natalie, breathlessly. 

Miss Cynthia looked intently at her 
guests. She seemed perplexed. “ But what 
difference can it make to you? That was 
ever so long ago.” 

“ You see—we-” 

“ We think—we-” 





238 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


The girls stopped, laughing, for both were 
trying to explain at the same time. 

“ You tell, Di—it was your discovery,” 
conceded Natalie. 

Diana took out the black book, and 
showed Miss Cynthia the pages that had 
aroused their curiosity. 

She was completely amazed, and her blue 
eyes sparkled. “I do believe you have 
stumbled upon an important discovery. It 
sounds interesting. What fun it would be 
to visit the ruins and hunt here and there 
for a hidden door or a secret panel! ” 

“We thought you would like to go ad¬ 
venturing with us. Would you—and could 
you go at once? ” 

“ I shall be delighted if you will wait 
until I pack a lunch for three. You have 
no idea how hungry explorers get! May I 
be excused for three minutes? ” 

“ Let us help,” the girls pleaded. 

The three adventurers went into the im¬ 
maculate kitchen, and began foraging the 
well-stocked pantry shelves. 


THE LOST PAINTING 


239 


They arrived at the village by trolley, and 
hiked to the knoll by the river where the 
picturesque old ruin nestled against the 
crumbling cliff. 

Miss Cynthia was feeling a bit out of 
breath, so they sat down beside the church 
to rest before starting their investigations. 

Finally Diana could wait no longer, but 
slipped inside and began examining the 
walls. The others followed her, and soon 
the three were entirely absorbed. 

“ Perhaps a hidden spring controlling a 
door is secreted in the wall,” murmured Nat¬ 
alie, tapping them with a stick. 

“ Do be careful,” warned Miss Cynthia. 
“ It would be dreadful to have the walls 
topple upon us. They have stood for so 
many years that they are liable to fall at the 
slightest jar.” 

Diana was studying the drawing. “ I feel 
sure the secret chamber is under this floor. 
Look at the diagram. It represents a floor 
plan. I think these lines with the curious 
letters mark the floor boards. There is a 


240 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


tiny cross on this one at Y 3 and another 
cross at H\ The large numbers and cross- 
lines may indicate the location of the 
pews.” 

Diana began stepping off the heavy oak 
boards that formed the flooring, reciting the 
alphabet as she went. 

Miss Cynthia and Natalie, tense with ex¬ 
citement, watched Diana. 

She stopped suddenly and shouted, “ Y a 
would mark the board under this heap of 
debris. The very pile that Tessie sent 
crumbling to the floor that day. I remem¬ 
ber now—it was there that Babs’s stick went 
through the charred floor and dislodged the 
musket. That must be the secret opening 
to the underground room.” 

They tossed the bricks aside, and soon the 
old musket was found, lying just as the girls 
had left it. 

With their hands the treasure-hunters 
tore at the boards, using heavy sticks to pry 
them loose. The workers were unmindful of 
grime and cinders. A brick with well-di- 



THE LOST PAINTING 241 

rected blows helped to rip up the weakened 
floor. 

At last they saw a yawning hole below. 
It looked like a deep, black well with various 
niches around it where the muskets and am¬ 
munition had been kept. 

Diana, streaked and dirty, sat on the edge 
of the floor and let her feet into the hole, 
searching blindly for an object on which to 
rest them. 

“ I’ve touched something solid,” she an¬ 
nounced, venturing more weight upon her 
foot. 

“ Steps? ” Natalie questioned. 

Diana investigated further before reply¬ 
ing. 

“ If I could only see-” 

“ The candles! ” Miss Cynthia had en¬ 
tirely forgotten that she had slipped three 
fat tallow candles into the basket. 

She lighted one, and Diana, drawing up 
her feet, lowered the candle into the un¬ 
known abyss. All were on their knees lean¬ 
ing breathlessly over the hole. They saw a 



242 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


bricked-up space that looked like a cistern. 
Stone steps led to the bottom of it. The 
floor, patched together with mortar, looked 
dry. 

“ Shall we go down? ” asked Diana. 

“ Oh, yes,” came the ready retort. So all 
three crept down the steps, Miss Cynthia 
leading the way with the candle held above 
her head like a torch. 

The air was thick and hard to breathe. 
Contrary to their hopes, the cistern-like 
room was empty with the exception of a few 
bullets that had dropped from the shelves 
above. 

“ There must be a door somewhere,” 
Diana declared. “ I am sure the church¬ 
man hid the painting in a secret chamber. 
The diary-” 

“Oh!” ejaculated Miss Cynthia. “I 
have made a discovery. There is a door! 
Here in the wall.” 

The others were instantly at her side ex¬ 
amining the wide oaken beam set in the brick 
wall. They fingered, tugged, pushed, and 




Diana lowered the candle into the unknown abyss.— Page 241. 















THE LOST PAINTING 


243 


pulled at the big beam until it swung inward 
like a door. The explorers passed through 
and stood in another room, larger, darker, 
and more cavernous than the first* The sides 
of the inner chamber were of rock as the 
room was blasted into the mountain. The 
air was cold but not as damp as in the outer 
chamber. The place was full of a queer, 
smothery smell, stale and heavy. 

In one corner Diana spied something muf¬ 
fled in burlap. Natalie helped her cut the 
thongs, and take off the wrappings, while 
Miss Cynthia held the candle. The outside 
coverings were musty, but as the girls un¬ 
wound layer after layer they found the ma¬ 
terial beneath was well-preserved. When 
the last bit of cloth was removed, a beautiful 
painting of the Last Supper was revealed. 
The colors, applied only by a master’s hand, 
glowed richly in the yellow light. 

“ The Lost Painting,” they all gasped. 

“ Look here! ” Natalie was already flut¬ 
tering to another corner of the cave. “ More 
treasures! ” 


244 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ The altar candelabra,” Diana cried as 
she and Natalie lifted the handsome stand 
from its hiding-place. 

“ And a solid silver communion service,” 
added Miss Cynthia reverently. 

Then Natalie found another door that led 
to an underground passage. With a spirit 
of daring the adventurers entered the tunnel. 
Finally they came to a point where the light 
began to sift through, and the air grew 
fresher. 

Beyond was a cleverly concealed door 
which opened into a tangle of creepers, so 
thick that the members of the expedition 
could hardly wriggle out on the side of 
the mountain. At last they stood in the 
sunshine again, looking curiously at the 
mat of vines that completely hid the en¬ 
trance. 

Diana turned to Miss Cynthia and noticed 
that she looked fatigued. 

“ Miss Cynthia, dear, you are tired. We 
must go right home, and make you as comfy 
as a bug in a rug. I forgot that you might 


THE LOST PAINTING 245 

tire easily. Nat and I have so much en¬ 
thusiasm, you know.” 

“ Don’t mind me,” objected the little lady. 
“ What are we going to do about the treas¬ 
ure? ” 

“We will return, lay boards over the tell¬ 
tale opening, and cover them with bricks,” 
replied Diana. “ Then we will notify the 
proper authorities of our discovery. Just 
now the most important thing is to take care 
of another treasure. Just grab hold of my 
arm. Lean on me as much as you like, for I 
am as strong as a cedar sapling.” 

So the three returned to the old church via 
the tunnel and covered their tracks well. 
Afterward they walked to the trolley, and 
boarded a car for home. It had indeed been 
an eventful day. 


CHAPTER XIX 


ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 

Exciting things happened after that. 
The picture was put into safe-keeping, and 
the girls waited anxiously for the answer to 
the letter Miss Cynthia had written to the 
museum officials. 

The reward had never been withdrawn, 
and, in due time, Natalie and Diana were 
each richer by five hundred dollars. It 
seemed like a fortune. Miss Cynthia had 
absolutely refused to accept a share of the 
money. 

Diana partly redeemed herself financially 

when she sent a check to Madam Horton 

for a portion of her investment. Madam did 

not wish to take the money, but Diana was 

firm. Now that she was able, she intended 

to stand on her own feet. She wanted to 

be clear of debts. So Madam agreed to ac- 

246 


ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 247 


cept the payment with the understanding 
that it was to be used to start some other girl 
on the road to learning. 

The thing that bothered Diana and Nat¬ 
alie now, was Miss Cynthia’s blighted 
romance. They discussed several plans for 
bringing the former lovers together, and at 
last agreed upon a way that seemed permis¬ 
sible. They would give the long-lost note to 
Jonathan Wood. Had not Miss Cynthia 
said that she regretted it had never reached 
him ? It was not wrong to aid Cupid by de¬ 
livering a love-letter which might make two 
people happy. 

One Monday afternoon Diana clutched 
Natalie’s sleeve with one hand and with the 
other held Miss Cynthia’s love-letter. Both 
girls were trembling with excitement, for 
they were on their way to see Jonathan 
Wood. 

“ We are a nice pair of Cupids,” Diana 
laughed. “ Come, let’s brace up, Natalie, 
and march straight up to the front door. I 
don’t believe Jonathan Wood is as cross as 


248 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


every one thinks. The college, of course, is 
prejudiced because he refuses to sell the 
strip of cliff land for the new dormitory.” 

The lane leading to Jonathan Wood’s 
dwelling passed under an archway of tall 
birches which hid the blue sky from view. 
The red brick house, standing at the end of 
the road, looked bare and forbidding. The 
shutters on the front windows were closed, 
and a coat of dust lay on the porch. 

Diana raised the heavy old-fashioned 
knocker, and it gave a dull thump as it fell. 
After a long time the girls heard slow, shuf¬ 
fling footsteps within, as though some one 
were scuffing along an uncovered floor in 
slippers that were too large for him. Then 
the person jerked and fumbled at the door. 
In spite of much rattling the lock refused to 
yield. 

At length there was an impatient excla¬ 
mation on the other side of the door, and the 
noise ceased. 

“ Well, who be ye, anyhow? ” a woman’s 
shrill voice demanded. 


ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 249 

“ We have come to see Mr. Jonathan 
Wood,” Diana replied. 

“Well,” came in decisive tones, “ye’d 
better go around to the back door. I can’t 
open this one. It ain’t been open this spring, 
and I guess the rust has stuck the key fast 
—anyhow, I can’t turn it.” 

The two girls heard the woman depart, 
and decided she had gone to let them in at 
the other door. 

Natalie shivered. “ It’s awfully queer,” 
she said. “ The idea of anybody keeping his 
front door shut so long that it cannot be un¬ 
locked.” 

When they reached the back of the build¬ 
ing, a long, thin, ill-kept woman stood in the 
doorway, and she stared at them out of her 
narrow, piercing eyes. 

“ Hello! ” she hailed them abruptly. 

Both girls greeted her. 

“Will you please ask Mr. Wood if he will 
see us?” Diana inquired. 

The woman gave a queer, ringing laugh. 

“ Well, now,” she said, “ I reckon ye just 


250 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


better ask Jonathan that yerselves. He’s 
out in the west field ’tendin’ to his wheat, 
and nothin’ this side of heaven would bring 
him to the house until he’s finished.” 

There seemed nothing to do but to visit 
Jonathan in his wheat-field; so the girls fol¬ 
lowed the woman’s directions, and soon 
found Jonathan. 

“ How de do, girls! ” he said. His bushy 
brows were drawn into a deep frown, but his 
black eyes twinkled underneath. One could 
hardly tell whether he were going to be cross 
or kind. 

“ Is this another one of those Briarcliffe 
committees come to prevail upon me to sell 
the cliff land? Well, it’s no use. I am not 
going to sell it. That’s settled. All the 
money they could offer wouldn’t buy it; so 
go back and tell ’em that. I don’t want the 
college any nearer to me than it is. Say, I 
believe you are the same girl I caught burn¬ 
ing up my fence.” He looked piercingly at 
Diana. 

“ I was in the crowd—and I did get 


ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 251 


caught. We didn’t do that purposely—I 
thought you understood. However, Mr. 
Wood, we are not here to-day to talk about 
the property. We have a letter which was 
written to you a long time ago—the writer 
wishes that it had been delivered, so 


Jonathan Wood suddenly turned pale, 
and his hands trembled with eagerness as he 
reached for the pink slip of paper. He read 
it through silently. Then with a sob he 
leaped over the fence, and sprinted across 
the meadows. The last the girls saw of him, 
he was tearing down the lane on the back of 
a little sorrel horse. His heavy boots swung 
against the animal’s sides, and his tall body 
swayed back and forth. 

“ He looks just like Ichabod Crane,” Nat¬ 
alie shrieked with laughter. “ I say, Di, do 
you feel ’specially like a Cupid? ” 

“ Can’t say that I do,” Diana grinned. 
“ But I do feel as though we had done a 
good turn. I firmly believe that if two fool¬ 
ish old people are making themselves miser- 




252 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


able over a perfectly senseless affair, it is 
time for a third party and a fourth party, as 
it happened in this case, to intervene and 
straighten out matters. I wonder if we’ll be 
invited to the wedding? ” 

“ Don’t go too fast, Di,” Natalie giggled. 
“ Jonathan isn’t more than half-way to 
Roselea Terrace yet.” 

Diana and Natalie went to the tennis- 
courts where they found a group of girls 
with racquets and balls. Barbara and Lois 
were putting up a net, and Anne, Elsie, 
Dorothy, and Tessie sat lazily on the iron 
benches near by. 

“ What a glorious day! ” Anne exclaimed. 
“ We have had such perfect weather all this 
month. I do hope it lasts until June for 
Commencement. It is horrible when the last 
days are rainy.” 

“Hush, Anne!” Dorothy begged sadly. 
“ Don’t talk of last days; the very thought 
makes me weep. I’ve grown so attached to 
Patricia Horning this year—I can’t bear to 
think of parting with the seniors.” 



ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 253 


“ Here, Dorothy, do stop crying on my 
shoulder,” Elsie protested. “ This is the 
third clean waist since yesterday. Well, 
girls, isn’t the net ready yet? ” 

“ Come help us,” Lois invited, and Elsie 
strolled over to lend weak assistance. 

After two sets the girls declared it was too 
hot to play, and Barbara expressed a wish 
for iced lemonade. 

“ Come to my room, and IT1 treat,” Diana 
proposed. They trooped merrily to the 
Oriole’s Nest, and Diana soon had a pitcher 
of lemonade and a plate of fancy cakes for 
her guests. 

“ Do you know, Di, I can’t help looking 
at you,” Lois whispered as they sat on the 
window-seat. “ You are the same—yet not 
the same. There is such a sweet, happy ex¬ 
pression in your eyes, and you are so steady 
and sensible. I wish I could be like you—I 
am so irritable and restless and blue. I don’t 
enjoy things as I once did. Diana, I miss 
you. I wish we could room together again 
next year. I need you.” 



254 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Lois’s face was wistful and eager. Diana 
had never known her to be so much in 
earnest. 

“If living here and taking college in a 
rational manner has changed you, why 
couldn’t it do the same for me? I am dis¬ 
satisfied with myself. I have a sudden am¬ 
bition, and I do want to be something besides 
a frivolous butterfly.” 

“ Lois,” Diana replied, “ I would love to 
be with you again, but you know I cannot 
stay at Mead. I want to come back to col¬ 
lege next year, but I shall return to the 
Oriole’s Nest. I know you would not care 
to be here—away from all the excitement of 
dinners and parties.” 

“ But I would,” Lois insisted. “ Won’t 
you ask me to come? I want you to teach 
me the secret to happiness and contentment 
—something beside clothes and foolishness.” 

“ If you really think I can help, Lois, I 
will be glad to have you,” Diana responded 
unselfishly. 

“ Di, this lemonade is delicious,” Anne 


ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 255 


cried out, interrupting their chat. “ I’d like 
you to make two quarts for me for Tuesday 
night. I am entertaining a few of the 
seniors.” 

Diana nodded and rose to jot down the 
order. Just then a loud pounding was heard 
on the street door below. 

When Mrs. Turner opened it, a heavy 
voice shouted, “ Does a college girl by the 
name of Diana Lynn board here? ” 

Mrs. Turner answered, “ I have no board¬ 
ers. The young lady has a room here. But, 
good lands, Mr. Wood, what business have 
you got with Miss Lynn? I thought you 
hated college girls like pizen.” 

Jonathan Wood pushed the woman aside, 
and the girls stared in wonder as they heard 
him come tramping up the stairs. 

Diana turned red, and Natalie, fluttering 
up from the floor where she had been sitting, 
clung nervously to Diana. 

“ Here you are,” the man called when 
Diana opened the door. 44 1 have been 
searching all over the campus for you. 


256 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


Cynthia told me your name, but she didn’t 
know where you lived. Well, it’s all fixed 
up, and the wedding date is set. Now, just 
to show you that Jonathan Wood is a grate¬ 
ful and happy man, I am going to deed that 
strip of land to the college, and you can pre¬ 
sent it yourself with my respects.” He 
turned and left the room as hastily as he had 
come. 

The girls were staring at Diana and Nat¬ 
alie in speechless surprise, when Jonathan 
Wood stuck his head in at the door. 

“ I say, Miss Lynn,” he added, “ it just 
struck me as that strip of land seems mighty 
stingy in view of what you just accomplished 
for me; I’ll just add five thousand dollars to 
the building fund for the new dormitory. 
You see, I’m so plumb happy that I can 
hardly keep in my skin. Oh, yes, we are to 
be married May 30th! Cynthia and I de¬ 
cided not to wait much longer, ’cause we’ve 
waited plenty long enough. You are all in¬ 
vited. Good-bye.” 

After he had gone Barbara gasped, 



“I AM GOING TO DEED THAT STRIP OF LAND TO THE COLLEGE 

Page 256. 




















ABOUT JONATHAN WOOD 257 

“ Diana Lynn, since when have you been re¬ 
ceiving calls from crazy men? ” 

Diana laughed, and she and Natalie told 
them the story of the pink love-letter. 

“Isn’t it just wonderful to be alive?” 
Diana cried enthusiastically. “ I wonder 
why so many nice things come to me? ” 

“ It’s because you are always so good and 
kind and sweet to everybody else,” Lois de¬ 
clared. 

“ Plain lucky, I’d call it,” remarked 
Anne, practically. 

“ But have you noticed,” Natalie offered 
timidly, “ Diana’s success has come through 
her own efforts? She has striven for what 
she has won—good things don’t fall into peo¬ 
ple’s laps. One has to work for them. It is 
plainly the law of cause and effect.” 

“ But I never dreamed of all this good 
fortune when I took the letter to Jonathan 

Wood. Besides, Natalie was with me-” 

“And I am enjoying the honors,” Nat¬ 
alie interrupted. “ You found the letter in 
your desk, and it was at your suggestion 




258 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


that we delivered it. I do believe in cause 
and effect.” Natalie went on to prove her 
statement. “ Diana, the loss of Madam 
Horton’s support was the result of your in¬ 
difference to the real purpose of college. 
Your election to the editorship of the Ob¬ 
server was the result of study and literary 
ability. You were able to pay your ex¬ 
penses as a result of hard work. Di, dear¬ 
est, we all admire your courage, and you de¬ 
serve everything splendid that comes.” 

“ She does, she does,” the others echoed. 

“ Girls, I can’t keep the news that Mr. 
Wood is going to give us the cliff land an¬ 
other minute. It is burning my tongue— 
let’s go and tell it! ” Barbara exclaimed. 

In two hours Diana’s and Natalie’s names 
were being repeated all over the college. 


CHAPTER XX 


LAST DAYS 

Diana had made over a white voile dress 
to wear at the Commencement festivities. 
She was carefully hoarding her money to 
meet the demands of the coming year; so it 
was necessary to be very economical. 

Her deft fingers, however, were able to 
fashion beautiful things out of almost noth¬ 
ing. She had purchased a becoming hat 
frame, and covered it with white lace from 
her soiled charmeuse dress. A half-yard of 
white chiffon was shirred into a crown, and a 
pink rose was tastefully arranged on one 
side. Thus Diana had a dainty hat which 
cost her only a dollar! 

She held up the hat proudly when it was 
finished, and Natalie admired it from all 
angles, even setting it upon her own head 
and posing before the glass to enjoy the 
effect. 


259 


260 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Now get your last year’s hat, and we 
will soon make an up-to-date model. I 
will put on the irons, for I think your straw 
may need a little freshening. Oh, I say, 
Natalie, I have about a yard of pink chiffon 
—why not cover the straw with that? ” 

“ Di, you are so clever, and it is so sweet 
of you to help me,” Natalie cried joyfully 
as she went after her old hat. 

Presently she came up with the hat and 
some scraps of ribbon in one hand, and in 
the other she held a package and a letter. 
Her face was downcast, for she knew what 
was in the package. Her heart ached for 
Diana. 

Diana wanted to cry as she cut the strings 
of the package, but she bit her lips hard, and 
determined to be sensible. She glanced rue¬ 
fully at the returned book manuscript, and 
then tore open the letter. Her face bright¬ 
ened. 

“ Listen to this, Natalie,” she cried ex¬ 
citedly. “ The editor liked my story—think 
of that! He kindly suggests some changes. 


LAST DAYS 


261 


and then he wants to see it again. Oh, Nat¬ 
alie, isn’t that splendid? ” 

“ It is,” Natalie agreed sympathetically. 

“ Dear me. That cloud wasn’t nearly so 
black as it looked, was it? I am so glad— 
glad—glad. It seems every cloud has a sil¬ 
ver lining, but sometimes we have to dig and 
probe inside to find the silver.” Diana 
placed the manuscript tenderly in her desk. 

“ I shall take it with me to Sea Crest,” 
she decided. “ I shall have time to work on 
it in the evenings when my tasks are done.” 

“ I am afraid you won’t have a great deal 
of time,” Natalie observed. “ I waited on 
table at a summer hotel once, and I assure 
you one works. When night came I was 
glad to lay my head on my pillow and sleep.” 

“ But I am so anxious to pay back the 
money to Madam Horton,” Diana sighed as 
she closed her desk. She sat down in a chair 
and began to rip the trimming from Nata¬ 
lie’s hat. “ I have felt so relieved since I 
won the Arnold scholarship, for I did not 
want to borrow money for my tuition. I 



262 DIANA OF BRIAKCLIFFE 

shall carry on my catering business, so I 
really seem to be nicely fixed for another 
year at Briarcliffe. I am glad the final 
exams are over, although they were not par¬ 
ticularly hard. Now we have one whole 
week in which to say good-bye to our friends 
and to attend the senior festivities. Oh, I 
forgot to tell you, Nell King asked us to 
come over to the gymnasium to-morrow to 
help make the daisy wreaths. The classes 
are going to present each of the seniors with 
a wreath instead of giving them bouquets. 
I think that is sweet and original. The daisy 
is their class flower, you know. 

“We mustn’t forget to run over and say 
good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Wood before the 
week is gone. Cynthia told me they had 
decided to stay on at the terrace and Jona¬ 
than is going to close up the brick house. 
He will farm the land, of course, but our 
dear little Dresden china lady would wither 
and die in that great old barn of a place. I 
cannot imagine her as being anywhere out¬ 
side of Roselea Terrace, can you? ” 


LAST DAYS 


263 


“ No, my imagination cannot picture her 
as living in the old brick house,” Natalie 
laughed and then sighed contentedly. “ It 
is good to know that those two people are 
happy at last.” Natalie was sitting in the 
widow-seat, ripping the shirring from a rib¬ 
bon rosette. 44 Diana,” she called sharply, 
44 there is a taxicab in front of the house, and 
a very stylish lady is getting out.” 

Diana made a lunge for the window, drop¬ 
ping the lapful of sewing onto the floor. A 
great lump had come into her throat, and a 
wild hope throbbed in her breast. 

44 It is Madam Horton,” she gasped. 

Then she ran to the door and Madam was 
already coming up the steps. She reached 
the landing and held out her arms, and 
Diana rushed into them. This wonderful 
woman had shown her the first kindness she 
had ever known, and Diana was so ashamed 
at having abused her confidence and trust. 
How she wanted to atone! She hid her face 
on Madam’s shoulder and sobbed while she 
clutched her gladly. 


264 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


“ Diana, you have made good! Oh, I am 
so proud of you.” Madam Horton followed 
Diana into the room, and the trembling girl 
removed her wraps and placed her in the 
coziest chair. 

“ This is my dear friend, Natalie,” Diana 
said as she laid her arm affectionately across 
Natalie’s shoulder. 

“ I am so glad to know you,” Madam 
beamed. “ From all reports, you two have 
been good for each other.” 

Presently Natalie left them alone, and 
Madam looked about her, then spoke in a 
pleased voice. 

“ Diana, my girl, I am glad you did not 
sink! You swam bravely and I am glad to 
know that you have reached a safe harbor. 
I have been receiving reports from the 
faculty each month, and for the last five 
months I have been proud of you. Did you 
think I was going to lose track of you alto¬ 
gether? No, dear, but I wanted to put you 
to the test. I knew that the real Diana 
would win.” 


LAST DAYS 


265 


Then Diana confided all her little secret 
hopes, fears, and triumphs, and Madam 
lived over again her own girlhood at Briar- 
cliffe. She had been a classmate of Cynthia 
Statler’s and she was delighted at the part 
that Diana had played in Cynthia’s broken 
life. 

“ I shall go to see Cynthia in the morn¬ 
ing,” she said, smiling. 

Then Diana told Madam of her plans for 
the summer and how she really hoped to 
have her book published soon. She told of 
her desire to work in a summer hotel that 
she might have her evenings free to work 
over her manuscript. 

“ But I have other plans for you, Diana,” 
Madam said with blunt decision. “ I want 
you to come home with me. I am lonely, 
and I need a daughter. I want you—I need 
you.” , 

“ You are too kind to me; I must not im¬ 
pose upon you again, for I am quite able to 
stand alone now,” Diana said tenderly. 

“ But I am not,” Madam replied, and a 


266 DIANA. OF BRIARCLIFFE 


sad quiver shook her voice. “ I have the 
same sort of feeling that you had when you 
came to me from the Anthony Flower 
Home. I am lonely, and I want to be petted 
and 4 tucked in/ ” 

Diana laid her hand against Madam’s 
wrinkled cheek and she murmured weakly, 
“ I shall be very glad indeed to come if you 
need me.” 

Madam’s face brightened and she caressed 
the girl in a kind, motherly way. “ You will 
have plenty of leisure to rewrite your book,” 
she said , 44 and now, dear, may I please have 
a cup of tea? ” 

Diana smiled over Madam’s abruptness 
as she rose to prepare a cup of tea. 

# * * * * # 

It was the last day in which the classes 
were to appear in chapel before the Com¬ 
mencement exercises began. As Diana and 
Natalie neared the old ivy-grown building, 
with their arms about each other, they felt 
very near the verge of tears. Yet they were 
not tears of sorrow, only one just seemed to 



LAST DAYS 


267 


fill up with a queer emotion at the thoughts 
of partings and last days, and one wanted to 
bubble over. 

A crowd of girls stood in the back of the 
chapel and sang in ringing tones: 

“ Briarcliffe, dear Briarcliffe, 

Thy praises we will sing, 

Our voices, staunch and loyal, 
Through the ages ring.” 

It was a wonderful moment and every girl 
felt its importance. Some cried, unashamed, 
into their damp handkerchiefs, and others 
blinked their eyes and bit their lips so their 
friends wouldn’t know that they really 
wanted to cry. 

“ Well, I am glad that is over.” Barbara 
tried to smile as they walked across the 
campus a little later. “ I wish the year were 
beginning instead of ending. Just think, 
Anne, we shall be juniors next year.” 

“ I hope so,” Anne replied sternly, al¬ 
though her sternness was only a mask to 
weaker feelings. “ Although I’d not be too 


268 DIANA OF BRIARCLIFFE 


sure about it. Hazel Walters has two con¬ 
ditions to work off before she is admitted as 
a junior, and our cases might be similar. 
We won’t get our final reports until this 
afternoon.” 

“ Come up and help me pack,” Lois in¬ 
vited socially as Diana and Natalie paused 
when they came to Mead Hall. 

They walked slowly up the stairs, and, in¬ 
stead of packing, they settled for a last cozy 
little chat, and finished up Lois’s last box of 
chocolates. 

“ The hope of coming back next year is 
all that sustains me,” Diana said seriously. 
“ I have grown to love Briarcliffe dearly. 
What is it about college that fills one with 
the desire to be true and loyal, a credit to 
one’s Alma Mater? Somehow one feels that 
she ought to live up to it. Briarcliffe has 
done so much for me. I am so glad that I 
still have three years of it.” 

Two days later came the real partings and 
good-byes, but mingled with these were the 
glad cries of “ I’ll see you soon,” “ Don’t 


LAST DAYS 


2G9 


forget our glad reunion in September,” or 
“ Hello there, jolly sophomore; how does it 
feel to he one step higher? ” 


THE END 













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